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The Blue Letter Bible

2 Samuel 17 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:1 - Now Ahithophel urged Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men to start out after David tonight.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:2 - 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,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:3 - 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.[fn] Then you will be at peace with all the people.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:4 - This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.
Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Advice

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:5 - But then Absalom said, “Bring in Hushai the Arkite. Let’s see what he thinks about this.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:6 - 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?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:7 - “Well,” Hushai replied to Absalom, “this time Ahithophel has made a mistake.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:8 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:9 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:10 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:11 - “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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:12 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:13 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:14 - 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!
Hushai Warns David to Escape

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:15 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:16 - “Quick!” he told them. “Find David and urge him not to stay at the shallows of the Jordan River[fn] tonight. He must go across at once into the wilderness beyond. Otherwise he will die and his entire army with him.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:17 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:18 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:19 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:20 - When Absalom’s men arrived, they asked her, “Have you seen Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
The woman replied, “They were here, but they crossed over the brook.” Absalom’s men looked for them without success and returned to Jerusalem.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:21 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:22 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:23 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:24 - David soon arrived at Mahanaim. By now, Absalom had mobilized the entire army of Israel and was leading his troops across the Jordan River.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:25

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:25 - 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,[fn] an Ishmaelite.[fn] His mother, Abigail daughter of Nahash, was the sister of Joab’s mother, Zeruiah.)

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:26

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:26 - Absalom and the Israelite army set up camp in the land of Gilead.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:27

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:27 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:28

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:28 - They brought sleeping mats, cooking pots, serving bowls, wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans, lentils,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 17:29

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:29 - 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.”
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads like the return of all is the man whom you seek.
Hebrew at the crossing points of the wilderness.
Hebrew Ithra, a variant spelling of Jether.
As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Chr 2:17); Hebrew reads an Israelite.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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2 Samuel Chapter 17 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras