| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Now Ahithophel urged Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men to start out after David tonight. | 1Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. |
| 2I will catch up with him while he is weary and discouraged. He and his troops will panic, and everyone will run away. Then I will kill only the king, | 2When I catch up with him he will be exhausted and worn out. I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king |
| 3and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride returns to her husband. After all, it is only one man’s life that you seek. Then you will be at peace with all the people.” | 3and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. The entire army will return unharmed." |
| 4This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel. Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Advice | 4This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel. |
| 5But then Absalom said, “Bring in Hushai the Arkite. Let’s see what he thinks about this.” | 5But Absalom said, "Call for Hushai the Arkite, and let's hear what he has to say." |
| 6When Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had said. Then he asked, “What is your opinion? Should we follow Ahithophel’s advice? If not, what do you suggest?” | 6So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?" |
| 7“Well,” Hushai replied to Absalom, “this time Ahithophel has made a mistake. | 7Hushai replied to Absalom, "Ahithophel's advice is not sound this time." |
| 8You know your father and his men; they are mighty warriors. Right now they are as enraged as a mother bear who has been robbed of her cubs. And remember that your father is an experienced man of war. He won’t be spending the night among the troops. | 8Hushai went on to say, "You know your father and his men--they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army. |
| 9He has probably already hidden in some pit or cave. And when he comes out and attacks and a few of your men fall, there will be panic among your troops, and the word will spread that Absalom’s men are being slaughtered. | 9At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, whoever hears about it will say, 'Absalom's army has been slaughtered!' |
| 10Then even the bravest soldiers, though they have the heart of a lion, will be paralyzed with fear. For all Israel knows what a mighty warrior your father is and how courageous his men are. | 10If that happens even the bravest soldier--one who is lion-hearted--will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave. |
| 11“I recommend that you mobilize the entire army of Israel, bringing them from as far away as Dan in the north and Beersheba in the south. That way you will have an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And I advise that you personally lead the troops. | 11My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba--in number like the sand by the sea!--be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle. |
| 12When we find David, we’ll fall on him like dew that falls on the ground. Then neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. | 12We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive--not one of them! |
| 13And if David were to escape into some town, you will have all Israel there at your command. Then we can take ropes and drag the walls of the town into the nearest valley until every stone is torn down.” | 13If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!" |
| 14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” For the LORD had determined to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which really was the better plan, so that he could bring disaster on Absalom! Hushai Warns David to Escape | 14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel." Now the LORD had decided to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the LORD could bring disaster on Absalom. |
| 15Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had said to Absalom and the elders of Israel and what he himself had advised instead. | 15Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised. |
| 16“Quick!” he told them. “Find David and urge him not to stay at the shallows of the Jordan River tonight. He must go across at once into the wilderness beyond. Otherwise he will die and his entire army with him.” | 16Now send word quickly to David and warn him, "Don't spend the night at the fords of the desert tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed." |
| 17Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been staying at En-rogel so as not to be seen entering and leaving the city. Arrangements had been made for a servant girl to bring them the message they were to take to King David. | 17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city. |
| 18But a boy spotted them at En-rogel, and he told Absalom about it. So they quickly escaped to Bahurim, where a man hid them down inside a well in his courtyard. | 18But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it. |
| 19The man’s wife put a cloth over the top of the well and scattered grain on it to dry in the sun; so no one suspected they were there. | 19His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done. |
| 20When Absalom’s men arrived, they asked her, “Have you seen Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied, “They were here, but they crossed over the brook.” Absalom’s men looked for them without success and returned to Jerusalem. | 20When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman replied to them, "They crossed over the stream." Absalom's men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. |
| 21Then the two men crawled out of the well and hurried on to King David. “Quick!” they told him, “cross the Jordan tonight!” And they told him how Ahithophel had advised that he be captured and killed. | 21After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, "Get up and cross the stream quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you." |
| 22So David and all the people with him went across the Jordan River during the night, and they were all on the other bank before dawn. | 22So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan. |
| 23When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey, went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. He died there and was buried in the family tomb. | 23When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave of his father. |
| 24David soon arrived at Mahanaim. By now, Absalom had mobilized the entire army of Israel and was leading his troops across the Jordan River. | 24Meanwhile David had gone to Mahanaim, while Absalom and all the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan River. |
| 25Absalom had appointed Amasa as commander of his army, replacing Joab, who had been commander under David. (Amasa was Joab’s cousin. His father was Jether, an Ishmaelite. His mother, Abigail daughter of Nahash, was the sister of Joab’s mother, Zeruiah.) | 25Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.) |
| 26Absalom and the Israelite army set up camp in the land of Gilead. | 26The army of Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. |
| 27When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was warmly greeted by Shobi son of Nahash, who came from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and by Makir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and by Barzillai of Gilead from Rogelim. | 27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim |
| 28They brought sleeping mats, cooking pots, serving bowls, wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans, lentils, | 28brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, |
| 29honey, butter, sheep, goats, and cheese for David and those who were with him. For they said, “You must all be very hungry and tired and thirsty after your long march through the wilderness.” | 29honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. For they said, "The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert." |
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