171 Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom , "Please let me choose 12,000 e e men that I may arise and pursue David tonight . 2 " I will come upon him while he is weary and exhausted e and terrify him, so that all the people who are with him will flee . Then I will strike down the king alone , 3 and I will bring back all the people to you. The return of everyone depends on the man you seek ; then all the people will be at peace ." 4 So the plan pleased e Absalom and all the elders of Israel . 5 Then Absalom said , "Now call Hushai the Archite also , and let us hear what he has to say ." 6 When Hushai had come to Absalom , Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken thus e . Shall we carry out his plan ? If not, you speak ." 7 So Hushai said to Absalom , " This time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good ." 8 Moreover, Hushai said , "You know your father and his men , that they are mighty men and they are fierce e , like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field . And your father is an expert in warfare , and will not spend the night with the people . 9 "Behold , he has now hidden himself in one of the caves or in another place ; and it will be when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say , 'There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom .' 10 "And even the one who is valiant e , whose heart is like the heart of a lion , will completely lose heart ; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men . 11 "But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba , as the sand that is by the sea in abundance , and that you personally go into battle . 12 "So we shall come to him in one of the places where e he can be found , and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground ; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left . 13 "If he withdraws into a city , then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city , and we will drag it into the valley until e not even a small stone is found there ." 14 Then 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 ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel , so that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom .
15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests , "This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel , and this is what I have counseled . 16 "Now therefore, send quickly and tell David , saying , ' Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness , but by all e means cross over , or else the king and all the people who are with him will be destroyed .' " 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel , and a maidservant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David , for they could not be seen entering the city . 18 But a lad did see them and told Absalom ; so the two of them departed quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim , who had a well in his courtyard , and they went down into it. 19 And the woman took a covering and spread it over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, so that nothing e was known . 20 Then Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said , "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan ?" And the woman said to them, "They have crossed the brook of water ." And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem . 21 It came about 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 cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you."
22 Then David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed the Jordan ; and by dawn e not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan . 23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed , he saddled his donkey and arose and went to his home , to his city , and set his house in order , and strangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father . 24 Then David came to Mahanaim . And Absalom crossed the Jordan , he and all the men of Israel with him. 25 Absalom set Amasa over the army in place of Joab . Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite , who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash , sister of Zeruiah , Joab's mother . 26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead . 27 Now when David had come to Mahanaim , Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon , Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar , and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim , 28 brought beds , basins , pottery , wheat , barley , flour , parched grain, beans , lentils , parched seeds, 29 honey , curds , sheep , and cheese of the herd , for David and for the people who were with him, to eat ; for they said , "The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness ."
31 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David ; and David grew steadily stronger , but the house of Saul grew weaker continually .
2 Sons were born to David at Hebron : his firstborn was Amnon , by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess ; 3 and his second , Chileab , by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite ; and the third , Absalom the son of Maacah , the daughter of Talmai , king of Geshur ; 4 and the fourth , Adonijah the son of Haggith ; and the fifth , Shephatiah the son of Abital ; 5 and the sixth , Ithream , by David's wife Eglah . These were born to David at Hebron .
6 It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul .
7 Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah , the daughter of Aiah ; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner , "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine ?" 8 Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said , " Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah ? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father , to his brothers and to his friends , and have not delivered you into the hands of David ; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman . 9 " May God do so to Abner , and more also , if as the Lord has sworn to David , I do not accomplish this for him, 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah , from Dan even to Beersheba ." 11 And he could no longer answer Abner a word , because he was afraid of him. 12 Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place , saying , "Whose is the land ? Make your covenant with me, and behold , my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you." 13 He said , "Good ! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely , you shall not see my face unless e you first bring Michal , Saul's daughter , when you come to see me." 14 So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth , Saul's son , saying , "Give me my wife Michal , to whom I was betrothed for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines ." 15 Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband , from Paltiel the son of Laish . 16 But her husband went with her, weeping as he went , and followed her as far as Bahurim . Then Abner said to him, "Go , return ." So he returned . 17 Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel , saying , "In times e past you were seeking for David to be king over you. 18 "Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David , saying , ' By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies .' " 19 Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin ; and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin . 20 Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron . And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21 Abner said to David , "Let me arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king , that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires ." So David sent Abner away , and he went in peace .
22 And behold , the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron , for he had sent him away , and he had gone in peace . 23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived , they told Joab , saying , "Abner the son of Ner came to the king , and he has sent him away , and he has gone in peace ." 24 Then Joab came to the king and said , "What have you done ? Behold , Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone ? 25 "You know Abner the son of Ner , that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing ." 26 When Joab came out from David , he sent messengers after Abner , and they brought him back from the well of Sirah ; but David did not know it. 27 So when Abner returned to Hebron , Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately , and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother . 28 Afterward when David heard it, he said , "I and my kingdom are innocent before e the Lord forever e of the blood of Abner the son of Ner . 29 " May it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father's house ; and may there not fail from the house of Joab one who has a discharge , or who is a leper , or who takes hold of a distaff , or who falls by the sword , or who lacks bread ." 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because e he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon . 31 Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, " Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner ." And King David walked behind the bier . 32 Thus they buried Abner in Hebron ; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner , and all the people wept . 33 The king chanted a lament for Abner and said , "Should Abner die as a fool dies ? 34 "Your hands were not bound , nor your feet put in fetters ; As one falls before the wicked e , you have fallen ." And all the people wept again over him. 35 Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day ; but David vowed , saying , " May God do so to me, and more also , if e I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down." 36 Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased e them, just as everything e the king did pleased e all the people . 37 So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death . 38 Then the king said to his servants , "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel ? 39 "I am weak today , though anointed king ; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil ."
