Absalom

And Ahithophel saith unto Absalom, `Go in unto the concubines of thy father, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel hath heard that thou hast been abhorred by thy father, and the hands of all who are with thee have been strong.'

And they spread out for Absalom the tent on the roof, and Absalom goeth in unto the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel.

And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days is as when one inquireth at the word of God; so is all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.

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

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

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

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.'

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

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;

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.

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;

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,

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.

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

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;

and Israel encampeth with Absalom in the land of Gilead.

and the king chargeth Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, `Gently--for me, for the youth, for Absalom;' and all the people heard in the king's charging all the heads concerning Absalom.

And Absalom meeteth before the servants of David, and Absalom is riding on the mule, and the mule cometh in under an entangled bough of the great oak, and his head taketh hold on the oak, and he is placed between the heavens and the earth, and the mule that is under him hath passed on.

And one man seeth, and declareth to Joab, and saith, `Lo, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.'

And the man saith unto Joab, `Yea, though I am weighing on my hand a thousand silverlings, I do not put forth my hand unto the son of the king; for in our ears hath the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Observe ye who is against the youth--against Absalom;

And Joab saith, `Not right--I tarry before thee;' and he taketh three darts in his hand, and striketh them into the heart of Absalom, while he is alive, in the midst of the oak.

And they go round--ten youths bearing weapons of Joab--and smite Absalom, and put him to death.

and they take Absalom and cast him in the forest unto the great pit, and set up over him a very great heap of stones, and all Israel have fled--each to his tent.

And Absalom hath taken, and setteth up for himself in his life, the standing-pillar that is in the king's valley, for he said, `I have no son to cause my name to be remembered;' and he calleth the standing-pillar by his own name, and it is called `The monument of Absalom' unto this day.

And the king saith, `Peace to the youth--to Absalom?' And Ahimaaz saith, `I saw the great multitude, at the sending away of the servant of the king, even thy servant by Joab, and I have not known what it is .'