11. Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12. Then 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. Moreover, if he goes into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until not even one 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 given orders to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.
15. Then Hushai said unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled.
16. Now, therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass the Jordan; lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are with him.
17. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel, for they could not be seen coming into the city; and a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.
18. Nevertheless, a young man saw them and told Absalom, but both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
19. And the woman of the house took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground wheat upon it, and the thing was not known.
20. And when Absalom’s slaves came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.