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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>2 Samuel 17 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_samuel/17.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_samuel/17-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > 2 Samuel 17</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_samuel/16.htm" title="2 Samuel 16">◄</a> 2 Samuel 17 <a href="../2_samuel/18.htm" title="2 Samuel 18">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/2_samuel/17.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now Ahithophel urged Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men to start out after David tonight. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>I will catch up with him while he is weary and discouraged. He and his troops will panic, and everyone will run away. Then I will kill only the king, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride returns to her husband. After all, it is only one man’s life that you seek.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> Then you will be at peace with all the people.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.</p><p class="hdg">Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Advice</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>But then Absalom said, “Bring in Hushai the Arkite. Let’s see what he thinks about this.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>When Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had said. Then he asked, “What is your opinion? Should we follow Ahithophel’s advice? If not, what do you suggest?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>“Well,” Hushai replied to Absalom, “this time Ahithophel has made a mistake. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>You know your father and his men; they are mighty warriors. Right now they are as enraged as a mother bear who has been robbed of her cubs. And remember that your father is an experienced man of war. He won’t be spending the night among the troops. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>He has probably already hidden in some pit or cave. And when he comes out and attacks and a few of your men fall, there will be panic among your troops, and the word will spread that Absalom’s men are being slaughtered. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then even the bravest soldiers, though they have the heart of a lion, will be paralyzed with fear. For all Israel knows what a mighty warrior your father is and how courageous his men are.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>“I recommend that you mobilize the entire army of Israel, bringing them from as far away as Dan in the north and Beersheba in the south. That way you will have an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And I advise that you personally lead the troops. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>When we find David, we’ll fall on him like dew that falls on the ground. Then neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And if David were to escape into some town, you will have all Israel there at your command. Then we can take ropes and drag the walls of the town into the nearest valley until every stone is torn down.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” For the LORD had determined to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which really was the better plan, so that he could bring disaster on Absalom!</p><p class="hdg">Hushai Warns David to Escape</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had said to Absalom and the elders of Israel and what he himself had advised instead. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Quick!” he told them. “Find David and urge him not to stay at the shallows of the Jordan River<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> tonight. He must go across at once into the wilderness beyond. Otherwise he will die and his entire army with him.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been staying at En-rogel so as not to be seen entering and leaving the city. Arrangements had been made for a servant girl to bring them the message they were to take to King David. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>But a boy spotted them at En-rogel, and he told Absalom about it. So they quickly escaped to Bahurim, where a man hid them down inside a well in his courtyard. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>The man’s wife put a cloth over the top of the well and scattered grain on it to dry in the sun; so no one suspected they were there.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>When Absalom’s men arrived, they asked her, “Have you seen Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”</p><p class="reg">The woman replied, “They were here, but they crossed over the brook.” Absalom’s men looked for them without success and returned to Jerusalem.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then the two men crawled out of the well and hurried on to King David. “Quick!” they told him, “cross the Jordan tonight!” And they told him how Ahithophel had advised that he be captured and killed. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So David and all the people with him went across the Jordan River during the night, and they were all on the other bank before dawn.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey, went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. He died there and was buried in the family tomb.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>David soon arrived at Mahanaim. By now, Absalom had mobilized the entire army of Israel and was leading his troops across the Jordan River. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Absalom had appointed Amasa as commander of his army, replacing Joab, who had been commander under David. (Amasa was Joab’s cousin. His father was Jether,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> an Ishmaelite.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> His mother, Abigail daughter of Nahash, was the sister of Joab’s mother, Zeruiah.) <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Absalom and the Israelite army set up camp in the land of Gilead.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was warmly greeted by Shobi son of Nahash, who came from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and by Makir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and by Barzillai of Gilead from Rogelim. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>They brought sleeping mats, cooking pots, serving bowls, wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans, lentils, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/17-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>honey, butter, sheep, goats, and cheese for David and those who were with him. For they said, “You must all be very hungry and tired and thirsty after your long march through the wilderness.”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:3 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">like the return of all is the man whom you seek.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:16 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">at the crossing points of the wilderness.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:25a </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Ithra,</span><span class="ft"> a variant spelling of Jether.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:25b </span><span class="ft">As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Chr 2:17); Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">an Israelite.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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