1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me pick twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.
2 I will come on him while he is weary and his hands are slack, and throw him into a panic; all the people with him will run, and I will strike down the king by himself.
3 I will bring all the people back to you. The return of all of them depends on the man you are after; all the people will then be at peace."
4 The plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
5 But Absalom said, "Call Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he has to say too."
6 Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him, "Ahithophel has said such and such. Shall we act on his word? If not, you speak."
7 Hushai told Absalom, "The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time."
8 Hushai went on, "You know your father and his men: they are mighty men, and they are bitter of soul, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the wild. Your father is a seasoned warrior; he will not spend the night with the troops.
9 Right now he is hidden in one of the pits or some other place. If some of the troops fall at the outset, whoever hears of it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the troops following Absalom.'
10 Then even the brave man with a heart like a lion's will lose his nerve completely, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and the men with him are valiant.
11 So this is my advice: let all Israel from Dan to Beersheba be gathered to you, as many as the sand by the sea, and you yourself go into battle.
12 We will come upon him wherever he is to be found and settle on him as dew falls on the ground; not one will be left, neither he nor any of the men with him.
13 If he pulls back into a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down into the valley until not even a pebble of it can be found."
14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel's advice." For the LORD had determined to frustrate Ahithophel's good advice, so that the LORD could bring ruin on Absalom.
15 Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel this way and that, and I have advised this way and that.
16 Now send word quickly and tell David, 'Do not spend the night at the plains of the wilderness; be sure to cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'"
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel. A servant girl would go and pass the word to them, and they would go and tell King David, since they could not risk being seen coming into the city.
18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. The two of them hurried off and came to the house of a man at Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.
19 The woman took a cover, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain over it, and nothing was noticed.
20 Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman told them, "They went across the brook." They searched and found nothing, and went back to Jerusalem.
21 When they had gone, the men climbed out of the well and went to tell King David. They told David, "Get up and cross the water quickly, for this is what Ahithophel has advised against you."
22 David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By the light of morning not one was missing who had not crossed the Jordan.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been taken, he saddled his donkey and went home to his town. He gave orders for his household and hanged himself. He died and was buried in his father's tomb.
24 David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
25 Absalom had put Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had slept with Abigal daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
26 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the children of Ammon, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim
28 brought bedding, basins and clay pots, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils and parched seeds,
29 honey, curds, sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat. For they said, "The people must be hungry, tired and thirsty in the wilderness."