2 Samuel 17

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, 'Let me choose twelve thousand men and set off this very night in pursuitof David.	1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom: “I will choose for myself twelve thousand men, and rising up, I will pursue David this night.
2 I shal fal on him while he is tired and dispirited; I shal strike terror into him, and al the people whoare with him wil run away. I shal kil only the king,	2 And rushing against him, for he is weary and has weakened hands, I will strike him. And when all the people who are with him will have fled, I will strike down the king in isolation.
3 and I shal then bring al the people back to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You seek thelife of one individual only; the people as a whole wil have peace.'	3 And I will lead back the entire people, returning in the manner of one man. For you are seeking only one man. And all the people shall be in peace.”
4 The suggestion seemed a good one to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.	4 And this word pleased Absalom and all those greater by birth of Israel.
5 Then Absalom said, 'Now cal Hushai the Archite, for us to hear what he too has to say.'	5 But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite, and let us hear what he also may say.”
6 When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said, 'This is what Ahithophel says. Are we to do as hesuggests? If not, suggest something yourself.'	6 And when Hushai had gone to Absalom, Absalom said to him: “Ahithophel has spoken a word in this manner. Should we do it or not? What counsel do you give?”
7 Hushai said to Absalom, 'On this occasion the advice given by Ahithophel is not good.	7 And Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given at this time is not good.”
8 You know', Hushai went on, 'that your father and his men are great fighters and that they are now asangry as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is a man of war: he wil not let the army rest during thenight.	8 And again Hushai declared, “You know your father, and the men who are with him, to be very strong and bitter in soul, comparable to a bear raging in the forest when her young have been taken away. Moreover, your father is a man of war, and so he will not live among the people.
9 At this moment he is concealed in some hol ow or other place. If at the outset there are casualtiesamong our troops, word will go round that the army supporting Absalom has met with disaster.	9 Perhaps now he hides in pits, or in another place, wherever he wills. And if by chance, in the beginning, anyone may fall, whoever hears about it, no matter what he has heard, will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who were following Absalom.’
10 And then even the valiant, the truly lion-hearted, will be demoralised; for al Israel knows that yourfather is a champion and that the men with him are valiant.	10 And even the very strong, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will be weakened out of fear. For all the people of Israel know your father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are robust.
11 For my part, I offer this advice: Summon al Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, to ral y to you, asnumerous as the sand on the seashore, and you take the field in person with them.	11 But this seems to me to be the right counsel: Let all of Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand of the sea which is innumerable. And you will be in their midst.
12 We shall reach him wherever he is to be found; we shal fal on him as the dew fal s on the ground,and not leave him or any one of the men with him.	12 And we shall rush against him in whatever place he will have been found. And we shall cover him, as the dew usually falls upon the ground. And we shall not leave behind even one of the men who are with him.
13 Should he retire into a town, all Israel will bring ropes to that town, and we shal drag it into the river-bed until not a pebble of it is to be found.'	13 And if he will enter into any city, all of Israel shall encircle that city with ropes. And we will pull it into the torrent, so that there may not be found even one small stone from it.”
14 Then Absalom and al the people of Israel said, 'Hushai the Arkite's advice is better thanAhithophel's,' Yahweh having resolved to thwart Ahithophel's shrewd advice and so bring disaster on Absalom.	14 And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, said: “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” So, by an act of the Lord, the useful counsel of Ahithophel was defeated, in order that the Lord might lead evil over Absalom.
15 Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, 'Ahithophel gave such and such advice to Absalomand the elders of Israel, but I advised so and so.	15 And Hushai said to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar: “Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom and to the elders of Israel in this and that manner. And I gave counsel in such and such a manner.
16 Send with al speed to David and say, "Do not camp in the desert passes tonight, but get throughthem as fast as you can, or the king and his whole army may be annihilated." '	16 Now therefore, send quickly, and report to David, saying: ‘You shall not stay this night in the plains of the desert. Instead, without delay, go across. Otherwise the king may be engulfed, and all the people who are with him.’ ”
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were posted at the Fuller's Spring; a servant-girl was to go and warn themand they in turn were to warn King David, since they could not give themselves away by coming into the citythemselves.	17 But Jonathan and Ahimaaz remained beside the Fountain of Rogel. And a handmaid went away and reported it to them. And they set out, so that they might carry the report to king David. For they could not be seen, nor enter into the city.
18 A young man saw them nonetheless and told Absalom. The pair of them, however, made off quickly,reaching the house of a man in Bahurim. In his courtyard was a storage-wel and they got down into it.	18 But a certain young man saw them, and he revealed it to Absalom. Yet truly, they traveled quickly and entered into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they descended into it.
19 The woman took a piece of canvas and, spreading it over the mouth of the storage-wel , scatteredcrushed grain on it so that nothing showed.	19 Then a woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as if drying hulled barley. And so the matter was hidden.
20 When Absalom's servants reached the woman at the house, they said, 'Where are Ahimaaz andJonathan?' The woman said, 'They have gone further on, towards the water.' They searched but, having foundnothing, went back to Jerusalem.	20 And when the servants of Absalom had entered into the house, they said to the woman, “Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman responded to them, “They passed through hurriedly, after they had taken a little water.” But those who were seeking them, when they had not found them, returned to Jerusalem.
21 When they had gone, the men climbed out of the storage-wel and went to warn King David. 'Set out!'they told David. 'Cross the water quickly, for Ahithophel has given such and such advice against you!'	21 And when they had gone, they ascended from the well. And traveling, they reported to king David, and they said: “Rise up, and go across the river quickly. For Ahithophel has given a counsel of this kind against you.”
22 So David and al the troops with him set off and crossed the Jordan. By dawn no one was left, al hadcrossed the Jordan.	22 Therefore, David rose up, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan, until first light. And not even one of them was left behind who had not crossed over the river.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set off andwent home to his own town. Then, having set his house in order, he hanged himself. He was buried in hisfather's tomb.	23 Then Ahithophel, seeing that his counsel had not been done, saddled his donkey, and he rose up and went away to his own house and to his own city. And putting his house in order, he killed himself by hanging. And he was buried in the sepulcher of his father.
24 David had reached Mahanaim by the time that Absalom crossed the Jordan with al the men of Israel.	24 Then David went to the encampment, and Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
25 Absalom had put Amasa in command of the army in place of Joab. This Amasa was the son of aman cal ed Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had married Abigail, daughter of Jesse and sister of Zeruiah, mother ofJoab.	25 Truly, Absalom appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man who was called Ithra of Jezrael, who entered to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, who was the mother of Joab.
26 Israel and Absalom pitched their camp in the territory of Gilead.	26 And Israel made camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead.
27 When David reached Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah-of-the-Ammonites, Machir sonof Ammiel from Lo-Debar, and Barzil ai the Gileadite from Rogelim	27 And when David had arrived at the encampment, Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28 brought bedding, rugs, bowls and crockery; and wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans, lentils,	28 brought to him bedding, and tapestries, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and cooked grain, and beans, and lentils, and fried chick peas,
29 honey, curds and cows' cheese and sheep's cheese, which they presented to David and the peoplewith him for them to eat. 'The army', they said, 'must have been hungry, tired and thirsty in the desert.'	29 and honey, and butter, sheep and fattened calves. And they gave these to David and to the people who were with him to eat. For they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the desert.