2Samuel:17-18
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Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom ,
Let me now choose out twelve thousand men ,
and I will arise and pursue after David this night :
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And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed ,
and will make him afraid :
and all the people that are with him shall flee ;
and I will smite the king only :
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And I will bring back all the people unto thee :
the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned :
so all the people shall be in peace .
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And the saying pleased Absalom well ,
and all the elders of Israel .
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Then said Absalom ,
Call now Hushai the Archite also ,
and let us hear likewise what he saith .
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And when Hushai was come to Absalom ,
Absalom spake unto him ,
saying ,
Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner :
shall we do after his saying ?
if not ;
speak thou .
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And Hushai said unto Absalom ,
The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time .
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For ,
said Hushai ,
thou knowest thy father and his men ,
that they be mighty men ,
and they be chafed in their minds ,
as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field :
and thy father is a man of war ,
and will not lodge with the people .
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Behold ,
he is hid now in some pit ,
or in some other place :
and it will come to pass ,
when some of them be overthrown at the first ,
that whosoever heareth it will say ,
There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom .
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And he also that is valiant ,
whose heart is as the heart of a lion ,
shall utterly melt :
for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man ,
and they which be with him are valiant men .
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Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee ,
from Dan even to Beersheba ,
as the sand that is by the sea for multitude ;
and that thou go to battle in thine own person .
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So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found ,
and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground :
and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one .
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Moreover ,
if he be gotten into a city ,
then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city ,
and we will draw it into the river ,
until there be not one small stone found there .
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And Absalom and all the men of Israel said ,
The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel .
For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel ,
to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom .
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Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests ,
Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel ;
and thus and thus have I counselled .
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Now therefore send quickly ,
and tell David ,
saying ,
Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness ,
but speedily pass over ;
lest the king be swallowed up ,
and all the people that are with him .
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Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel ;
for they might not be seen to come into the city :
and a wench went and told them ;
and they went and told king David .
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Nevertheless a lad saw them ,
and told Absalom :
but they went both of them away quickly ,
and came to a man '
s house in Bahurim ,
which had a well in his court ;
whither they went down .
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And the woman took and spread a covering over the well '
s mouth ,
and spread ground corn thereon ;
and the thing was not known .
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And when Absalom '
s servants came to the woman to the house ,
they said ,
Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan ?
And the woman said unto them ,
They be gone over the brook of water .
And when they had sought and could not find them ,
they returned to Jerusalem .
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And it came to pass ,
after they were departed ,
that they came up out of the well ,
and went and told king David ,
and said unto David ,
Arise ,
and pass quickly over the water :
for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you .
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Then David arose ,
and all the people that were with him ,
and they passed over Jordan :
by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan .
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And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed ,
he saddled his ass ,
and arose ,
and gat him home to his house ,
to his city ,
and put his household in order ,
and hanged himself ,
and died ,
and was buried in the sepulchre of his father .
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Then David came to Mahanaim .
And Absalom passed over Jordan ,
he and all the men of Israel with him .
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And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab :
which Amasa was a man '
s son ,
whose name was Ithra an Israelite ,
that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash ,
sister to Zeruiah Joab '
s mother .
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So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead .
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And it came to pass ,
when David was come to Mahanaim ,
that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon ,
and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar ,
and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim ,
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Brought beds ,
and basons ,
and earthen vessels ,
and wheat ,
and barley ,
and flour ,
and parched corn ,
and beans ,
and lentiles ,
and parched pulse ,
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And honey ,
and butter ,
and sheep ,
and cheese of kine ,
for David ,
and for the people that were with him ,
to eat :
for they said ,
The people is hungry ,
and weary ,
and thirsty ,
in the wilderness .
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And David numbered the people that were with him ,
and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them .
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And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab ,
and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah ,
Joab '
s brother ,
and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite .
And the king said unto the people ,
I will surely go forth with you myself also .
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But the people answered ,
Thou shalt not go forth :
for if we flee away ,
they will not care for us ;
neither if half of us die ,
will they care for us :
but now thou art worth ten thousand of us :
therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the city .
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And the king said unto them ,
What seemeth you best I will do .
And the king stood by the gate side ,
and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands .
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And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai ,
saying ,
Deal gently for my sake with the young man ,
even with Absalom .
And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom .
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So the people went out into the field against Israel :
and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim ;
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Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David ,
and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men .
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For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country :
and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured .
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And Absalom met the servants of David .
And Absalom rode upon a mule ,
and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak ,
and his head caught hold of the oak ,
and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth ;
and the mule that was under him went away .
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And a certain man saw it ,
and told Joab ,
and said ,
Behold ,
I saw Absalom hanged in an oak .
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And Joab said unto the man that told him ,
And ,
behold ,
thou sawest him ,
and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground ?
and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver ,
and a girdle .
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And the man said unto Joab ,
Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand ,
yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king '
s son :
for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai ,
saying ,
Beware that none touch the young man Absalom .
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Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life :
for there is no matter hid from the king ,
and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me .
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Then said Joab ,
I may not tarry thus with thee .
And he took three darts in his hand ,
and thrust them through the heart of Absalom ,
while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak .
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And ten young men that bare Joab '
s armour compassed about and smote Absalom ,
and slew him .
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And Joab blew the trumpet ,
and the people returned from pursuing after Israel :
for Joab held back the people .
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And they took Absalom ,
and cast him into a great pit in the wood ,
and laid a very great heap of stones upon him :
and all Israel fled every one to his tent .
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Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar ,
which is in the king '
s dale :
for he said ,
I have no son to keep my name in remembrance :
and he called the pillar after his own name :
and it is called unto this day ,
Absalom '
s place .
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Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok ,
Let me now run ,
and bear the king tidings ,
how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies .
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And Joab said unto him ,
Thou shalt not bear tidings this day ,
but thou shalt bear tidings another day :
but this day thou shalt bear no tidings ,
because the king '
s son is dead .
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Then said Joab to Cushi ,
Go tell the king what thou hast seen .
And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab ,
and ran .
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Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab ,
But howsoever ,
let me ,
I pray thee ,
also run after Cushi .
And Joab said ,
Wherefore wilt thou run ,
my son ,
seeing that thou hast no tidings ready ?
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But howsoever ,
said he ,
let me run .
And he said unto him ,
Run .
Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain ,
and overran Cushi .
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And David sat between the two gates :
and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall ,
and lifted up his eyes ,
and looked ,
and behold a man running alone .
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And the watchman cried ,
and told the king .
And the king said ,
If he be alone ,
there is tidings in his mouth .
And he came apace ,
and drew near .
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And the watchman saw another man running :
and the watchman called unto the porter ,
and said ,
Behold another man running alone .
And the king said ,
He also bringeth tidings .
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And the watchman said ,
Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok .
And the king said ,
He is a good man ,
and cometh with good tidings .
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And Ahimaaz called ,
and said unto the king ,
All is well .
And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king ,
and said ,
Blessed be the LORD thy God ,
which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king .
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And the king said ,
Is the young man Absalom safe ?
And Ahimaaz answered ,
When Joab sent the king '
s servant ,
and me thy servant ,
I saw a great tumult ,
but I knew not what it was .
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And the king said unto him ,
Turn aside ,
and stand here .
And he turned aside ,
and stood still .
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And ,
behold ,
Cushi came ;
and Cushi said ,
Tidings ,
my lord the king :
for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee .
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And the king said unto Cushi ,
Is the young man Absalom safe ?
And Cushi answered ,
The enemies of my lord the king ,
and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt ,
be as that young man is .
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And the king was much moved ,
and went up to the chamber over the gate ,
and wept :
and as he went ,
thus he said ,
O my son Absalom ,
my son ,
my son Absalom !
would God I had died for thee ,
O Absalom ,
my son ,
my son !
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And it was told Joab ,
Behold ,
the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom .