1 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me, I pray, choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David to-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 to thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: all the people shall be in peace.
4 And the saying was right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
5 And Absalom said, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and we will hear also what he says.
6 And Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom spoke to him saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we carry out his word? If not, speak thou.
7 And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.
8 And Hushai said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are of exasperated spirit, 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 some such place; and it will come to pass, when some of them fall at the first, whoever heareth it will say, There has been slaughter among the people that follow Absalom,
10 and even the valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt; for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men.
11 But I counsel that all Israel be speedily gathered to 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 And we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls 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 And if he withdraw into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the torrent, 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. And Jehovah had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.
15 And Hushai said to 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 And now 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 And Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; and the maid went and told them; and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city.
18 But a lad saw them, and told Absalom. Then they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.
19 And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not known.
20 And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone over the brook of water. And they sought and could not find {them}, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And it came to pass after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.
22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there was not one of them missing that had not gone over the Jordan.
23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose and went to his house, to his city, and gave charge to his household, and hanged himself, and he died; and he was buried in the sepulchre 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 Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab; which Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
26 And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27 And as soon as David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28 brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched {corn}, and beans, and lentils, and parched {pulse},
29 and honey, and cream, and sheep, and cheese of kine to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.
1 亚希多弗又对押沙龙说： "求你准我挑选一万二千人， 今晚我要动身去追赶大卫，
2 趁他疲乏手软的时候， 忽然追上他， 使他惊惶失措， 与他在一起的人就必逃跑； 我只要单单击杀王一人，
3 使众人都来归你。你所寻索的那个人一死， 众人就都归你了， 众人也可以平安无事。"
4 押沙龙和以色列的众长老都看这事为美。
5 押沙龙说： "把亚基人户筛召来， 我们也听听他怎么说。"
6 于是户筛来见押沙龙， 押沙龙问他说： "亚希多弗说了这样的话， 我们可以照着他的话去行吗？如果不可以， 请你提议吧！ "
7 户筛回答押沙龙： "亚希多弗这次计划的谋略不好。"
8 户筛又说： "你知道你父亲和那些跟随他的人都是勇士； 他们凶恶威猛， 好像野地里丧子的母熊一样； 并且你父亲是个战士， 必不会与众人在一起住宿。
9 现在他或躺在一个坑中， 或在另一个地方， 如果他首先攻击你的手下， 听见的人就必说： ‘跟从押沙龙的人被杀了！ ’
10 那时， 纵使有人像狮子一般勇敢， 心里也必惊慌， 因为全以色列都知道你父亲是个勇士， 跟随他的人都是英勇的人。
11 因此， 我建议把以色列众人， 从但到别是巴， 都聚集到你这里来， 好像海边的沙那样多， 然后你亲自率领他们上战场。
12 无论我们在哪一个地方找到大卫， 就攻击他； 我们临到他， 像露水降在地上一样。这样， 他和跟随他的人， 就一个也不会留下。
13 如果他退入城里去， 以色列众人就要带绳子到那城去， 我们要把那城拉到河里去， 使那里连一块小石头也找不到。"
14 押沙龙和以色列众人都说： "亚基人户筛的谋略比亚希多弗的好。"因为耶和华定意要破坏亚希多弗的好计谋， 为要降灾祸给押沙龙。
15 于是户筛对撒督祭司和亚比亚他说： "亚希多弗为押沙龙和以色列的众长老所策定的谋略是这样这样的， 我所策定的谋略又是这样这样的。
16 现在你们要赶快派人去告诉大卫： ‘今天晚上你不可在旷野的渡口住宿， 务要过河， 免得王和跟随他的众人都被吞灭。’"
17 那时， 约拿单和亚希玛斯停留在隐．罗结， 他们不敢进城， 怕被人看见。有一个婢女经常出来， 把话告诉他们， 然后他们再去告诉大卫王。
18 但有一个仆人看见他们， 就去告诉押沙龙。因此， 他们两人急忙离开那里， 来到巴户琳某人的家里； 那人的院子里有一口井， 他们就下到井里。
19 那家的主妇拿了一块大布， 盖在井口上， 又在上面铺了一些麦子， 所以没有人知道这件事。
20 押沙龙的臣仆到这家来见那妇人， 问她： "亚希玛斯和约拿单在哪里？"那妇人回答他们说： "他们已经过了河了。"于是臣仆搜索他们， 却没有找着， 就都回耶路撒冷去了。
21 他们走了以后， 两人从井里上来， 去告诉大卫王， 对大卫说： "你们要起来， 赶快过河， 因为亚希多弗已经定了这样这样的谋略攻击你们。"
22 于是大卫和跟随他的众人都起来， 渡过约旦河； 到了天亮， 没有一人还没有渡过约旦河的。
23 亚希多弗见自己的谋略不被采纳， 就预备了驴子， 起程往本城自己的家去。他安排好了家里的事， 就上吊死了， 埋葬在他父亲的坟墓里。
24 大卫到了玛哈念， 押沙龙和跟随他的以色列众人也都过了约旦河。
25 押沙龙派亚玛撒统率军队， 作军队的元帅， 取代约押。亚玛撒是以实玛利人以特拉的儿子。以特拉曾经与拿辖的女儿亚比该亲近过； 亚比该和约押的母亲洗鲁雅是姊妹。
26 以色列人和押沙龙都在基列地安营。
27 大卫到了玛哈念的时候， 亚扪族的拉巴人拿辖的儿子朔比、罗．底巴人亚米利的儿子玛吉、基列的罗基琳人巴西莱，
28 带来寝具、碗盘、瓦器、小麦、大麦、面粉、炒麦、豆子、红豆、炒豆、
29 蜂蜜、奶油、绵羊和乳酪送给大卫和跟随他的人吃， 因为他们说： "这些人在旷野一定又饥饿， 又疲倦， 又口渴了。"