there.
[15] And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with
him.
[16] And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that
Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king.
[17] And Absalom said to Hushai, Is
this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
[18] And Hushai said unto Absalom,
Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him
will I abide.
[19] And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I
have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.
[20] Then said Absalom to Ahithophel,
Give counsel among you what we shall do.
[21] And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's
concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy
father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.
[22] So they spread Absalom a tent upon
the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
[23] And
the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle
of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
2Sam.17
[1] Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will
arise and pursue after David this night:
[2] 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:
[3]
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.
[4] And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
[5] Then
said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.
[6] 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.
[7] And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel
hath given is not good at this time.
[8] 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.
[9] 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.
[10] 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.
[11] Therefore I counsel that all Israel be
generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and
that thou go to battle in thine own person.
[12] 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.
[13] 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.
[14] 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.
[15] 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.
[16] 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.
[17] Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; 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.
[18] 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.
[19] And the woman took and spread a
covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
[20] 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.
[21] 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.
[22] 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.
[23] And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,