¹ And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, `Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

² and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who [are] with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

³ and I bring back all the people unto thee -- as the turning back of the whole [is] the man whom thou art seeking -- all the people are peace.

⁴ And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

⁵ And Absalom saith, `Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what [is] in his mouth -- even he.'

⁶ And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, `According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

⁷ And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Not good [is] the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

⁸ And Hushai saith, `Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father [is] a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

⁹ lo, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it hath been, at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer hath heard, and said, There hath been a slaughter among the people who [are] after Absalom;

¹⁰ and he also, the son of valour, whose heart [is] as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour [are] those with him.

¹¹ `So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst;

¹² and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we [are] upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who [are] with him even one.

¹³ And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.'

¹⁴ And Absalom saith -- and all the men of Israel -- `Better [is] the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;' and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah's bringing unto Absalom the evil.

¹⁵ And Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, `Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled;

¹⁶ and now, send hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.'

¹⁷ And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them -- and they go and have declared [it] to king David -- for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city.

¹⁸ And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

¹⁹ and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.

²⁰ And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, `Where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, `They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem.

²¹ And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, `Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.'

²² And David riseth, and all the people who [are] with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the Jordan.

²³ And Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father.

²⁴ And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him;

²⁵ and Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa [is] a man's son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

²⁶ and Israel encampeth with Absalom [in] the land of Gilead.

²⁷ And it cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

²⁸ couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

²⁹ and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who [are] with him to eat, for they said, `Thy people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'

¹ And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepareth for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him;

² and Absalom hath risen early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate, and it cometh to pass, every man who hath a pleading to come unto the king for judgment, that Absalom calleth unto him, and saith, `Of what city [art] thou?' and he saith, `Of one of the tribes of Israel [is] thy servant.'

³ And Absalom saith unto him, `See, thy matters [are] good and straightforward -- and there is none hearkening to thee from the king.'

⁴ And Absalom saith, `Who doth make me a judge in the land, that unto me doth come every man who hath a plea and judgment? -- then I have declared him righteous.'

⁵ And it hath come to pass, in the drawing nearing of any one to bow himself to him, that he hath put forth his hand, and laid hold on him, and given a kiss to him;

⁶ and Absalom doth according to this thing to all Israel who come in for judgment unto the king, and Absalom stealeth the heart of the men of Israel.

⁷ And it cometh to pass, at the end of forty years, that Absalom saith unto the king, `Let me go, I pray thee, and I complete my vow, that I vowed to Jehovah in Hebron,

⁸ for a vow hath thy servant vowed in my dwelling in Geshur, in Aram, saying, If Jehovah doth certainly bring me back to Jerusalem, then I have served Jehovah.'

⁹ And the king saith to him, `Go in peace;' and he riseth and goeth to Hebron,

¹⁰ and Absalom sendeth spies through all the tribes of Israel, saying, `At your hearing the voice of the trumpet, then ye have said, Absalom hath reigned in Hebron.'

¹¹ And with Absalom have gone two hundred men, out of Jerusalem, invited ones, and they are going in their simplicity, and have not known anything;

¹² and Absalom sendeth Ahithophel the Gilonite, a counsellor of David, out of his city, out of Gilo, in his sacrificing sacrifices; and the conspiracy is strong, and the people are going and increasing with Absalom.

¹³ And he who is declaring tidings cometh in unto David, saying, `The heart of the men of Israel hath been after Absalom.'

¹⁴ And David saith to all his servants who [are] with him in Jerusalem, `Rise, and we flee, for we have no escape from the face of Absalom; haste to go, lest he hasten, and have overtaken us, and forced on us evil, and smitten the city by the mouth of the sword.'

¹⁵ And the servants of the king say unto the king, `According to all that my lord the king chooseth -- lo, thy servants [do].'

¹⁶ And the king goeth out, and all his household at his feet, and the king leaveth ten women -- concubines -- to keep the house.

¹⁷ And the king goeth out, and all the people at his feet, and they stand still at the farthest off house.

¹⁸ And all his servants are passing on at his side, and all the Cherethite, and all the Pelethite, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came at his feet from Gath, are passing on at the front of the king.

¹⁹ And the king saith unto Ittai the Gittite, `Why dost thou go -- thou also -- with us? turn back -- and abide with the king, for thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile thou -- to thy place.

²⁰ Yesterday [is] thy coming in, and to-day I move thee to go with us, and I am going on that which I am going! -- turn back, and take back thy brethren with thee, -- kindness and truth.'

²¹ And Ittai answereth the king and saith, `Jehovah liveth, and my lord the king liveth, surely in the place where my lord the king is -- if for death, if for life, surely there is thy servant.'

²² And David saith unto Ittai, `Go and pass over;' and Ittai the Gittite passeth over, and all his men, and all the infants who [are] with him.

²³ And all the land are weeping -- a great voice, and all the people are passing over; and the king is passing over through the brook Kidron, and all the people are passing over on the front of the way of the wilderness;

²⁴ and lo, also Zadok, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God, and they make the ark of God firm, and Abiathar goeth up, till the completion of all the people to pass over out of the city.

²⁵ And the king saith to Zadok, `Take back the ark of God to the city; if I find grace in the eyes of Jehovah, then He hath brought me back, and shewn me it and His habitation;

²⁶ and if thus He say, I have not delighted in thee; here [am] I, He doth to me as [is] good in His eyes.'

²⁷ And the king saith unto Zadok the priest, `Art thou a seer? turn back to the city in peace, and Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan son of Abiathar, your two sons with you;

²⁸ see ye, I am tarrying in the plains of the wilderness till the coming in of a word from you to declare to me.'

²⁹ And Zadok taketh back -- and Abiathar -- the ark of God to Jerusalem, and they abide there.

³⁰ And David is going up in the ascent of the olives, going up and weeping, and he hath the head covered, and he is going barefooted, and all the people who [are] with him have covered each his head, and have gone up, going up and weeping;

³¹ and David declared, saying, `Ahithophel [is] among the conspirators with Absalom;' and David saith, `Make foolish, I pray Thee, the counsel of Ahithophel, O Jehovah.'

³² And it cometh to pass, David hath come unto the top, where he boweth himself to God, and lo, to meet him [is] Hushai the Archite, his coat rent, and earth on his head;

³³ and David saith to him, `If thou hast passed on with me then thou hast been on me for a burden,

³⁴ and if to the city thou dost turn back, and hast said to Absalom, Thy servant I am, O king; servant of thy father I [am] also hitherto, and now, I [am] also thy servant; then thou hast made void for me the counsel of Ahithophel;

³⁵ and are there not with thee there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? and it hath been, the whole of the matter that thou hearest from the house of the king thou dost declare to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests.

³⁶ Lo, there with them [are] their two sons, Ahimaaz to Zadok, and Jonathan to Abiathar, and ye have sent by their hand unto me anything that ye hear.'

³⁷ And Hushai, David's friend, cometh in to the city, and Absalom cometh in to Jerusalem.