Hushai Misleads Absalom
1 Not long after that, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and tonight I will set out after David. 2 I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged. He will be frightened, and all his men will run away. I will kill only the king 3 and then bring back all his men to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You want to kill only one man; the rest of the people will be safe.” 4 This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders.
5 Absalom said, “Now call Hushai, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6 When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, “This is the advice that Ahithophel has given us; shall we follow it? If not, you tell us what to do.”
7 Hushai answered, “The advice Ahithophel gave you this time is no good. 8 You know that your father David and his men are hard fighters and that they are as fierce as a mother bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier and does not stay with his men at night. 9 Right now he is probably hiding in a cave or some other place. As soon as David attacks your men, whoever hears about it will say that your men have been defeated. 10 Then even the bravest men, as fearless as lions, will be afraid because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great soldier and that his men are hard fighters. 11 My advice is that you bring all the Israelites together from one end of the country to the other, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, and that you lead them personally in battle. 12 We will find David wherever he is, and attack him before he knows what's happening. Neither he nor any of his men will survive. 13 If he retreats into a city, our people will all bring ropes and just pull the city into the valley below. Not a single stone will be left there on top of the hill.”
14 Absalom and all the Israelites said, “Hushai's advice is better than Ahithophel's.” The Lord had decided that Ahithophel's good advice would not be followed, so that disaster would come on Absalom.
David Is Warned and Escapes
15 Then Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar what advice he had given to Absalom and the Israelite leaders and what advice Ahithophel had given. 16 Hushai added, “Quick, now! Send a message to David not to spend the night at the river crossings in the wilderness, but to cross the Jordan at once, so that he and his men won't all be caught and killed.”
17 Abiathar's son Jonathan and Zadok's son Ahimaaz were waiting at the spring of Enrogel, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, because they did not dare be seen entering the city. A servant woman would regularly go and tell them what was happening, and then they would go and tell King David. 18 But one day a boy happened to see them, and he told Absalom; so they hurried off to hide in the house of a certain man in Bahurim. He had a well near his house, and they got down in it. 19 The man's wife took a covering, spread it over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it, so that no one would notice anything. 20 Absalom's officials came to the house and asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
“They crossed the river,” she answered.
The men looked for them but could not find them, and so they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the well and went and reported to King David. They told him what Ahithophel had planned against him and said, “Hurry up and cross the river.” 22 So David and his men started crossing the Jordan, and by daybreak they had all gone across.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and went back to his hometown. After putting his affairs in order, he hanged himself. He was buried in the family grave.
24 David had reached the town of Mahanaim by the time Absalom and the Israelites had crossed the Jordan. ( 25 Absalom had put Amasa in command of the army in the place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether the Ishmaelite; his mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab's mother Zeruiah.) 26 Absalom and his men camped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash, from the city of Rabbah in Ammon, and by Machir son of Ammiel, from Lodebar, and by Barzillai, from Rogelim in Gilead. 28-29 They brought bowls, clay pots, and bedding, and also food for David and his men: wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans, peas, honey, cheese, cream, and some sheep. They knew that David and his men would get hungry, thirsty, and tired in the wilderness.
Absalom ta pula eendunge kuAhitofel nokuHusai
1 Ahitofel okwa lombwela vali Absalom ndele ta ti: “Efe nge ndi hoolole ovalumenhu omayovi omulongo naavali ndi fikame, ndi shikule David, 2 ndi mu vakele fimbo ye a loloka nomake aye a wa ndele ndi mu tilife, opo ovanhu aveshe ovo ve li puye va faduke po. Opo nee ndi dipae ohamba aike. 3 Ovanhu aveshe ohandi ke ve ku alulila ngaashi omufuko mupe te uya komulumenhu waye. Ove owa nangela omwenyo womulumenhu umwe, novanhu aveshe otava ka kala nombili.” 4 Nondjovo oyo ya li ya wapalela Absalom novakulunhu aveshe vaIsrael. 5 Ndelenee Absalom ta ti: “Husai, Omuarki, na ifanwe yo, natu pwilikine yo eshi ye te shi popi.” 6 Husai eshi e uya, Absalom a popya naye ndee ta ti: “Ahitofel osho a popya. Fye ohatu ka shikula tuu eendunge daye? Ngeenge hasho, tu lombwela hano!”
7 Ndele Husai ta ti kuAbsalom: “Eendunge mwe di pewa paife kuAhitofel, inadi wapala.” 8 Husai okwa tya vali: “Ove u shi shii nokutya, xo novalumenhu vaye vo ovaladi, ndele ve neemwenyo di nehandu ngaashi emwangha la kufwa oumwanghona valo mofuka. Navali: Xo omukwaitelela, ye novakwaita vaye itava tulumukwa oufiku. 9 Tala, paife ye okwa hondama mekololo limwe lomomakololo ile monhele imwe ndele ngeenge nopehovelo lolwoodi nokuli vamwe tava dipawa, novanhu tave shi udu, vo otava ka tya: Ovakwaita ovo va shikula Absalom, ova tewa ko! 10 Opo nee naau omuladielela e nomutima ngaashi wonghoshi ota ka tyololoka shili. Osheshi Ovaisraeli aveshe ve shi shii nokutya, xo omukwanyati omuladi novalumenhu ovakwanyati ve li puye. 11 Ndelenee ame ohandi ku pe eendunge, handi ti: Ifana Ovaisraeli aveshe okudja kuDan fiyo okuBerseba va ongale pwoove, vo aveshe ngaashi eheke pomunghulo wefuta. Naave yo mwene u nokuya molwoodi. 12 Nafye eshi hatu mu nhukile monhele imwe omo a hondama, opo nee fye ohatu wile kombada yaye ngaashi omume tai wile kombada yedu. Osho ngaha ye mwene novanhu vaye ve li puye itapa ka xupifwa nande umwe. 13 Ndele ye ngeenge ta i moshilando shimwe, Ovaisraeli aveshe otava ka eta eengodi moshilando osho, ndele fye ohatu shi kokololele mefilu fiyo itapa monika nande emanya limwe.” 14 Opo nee Absalom novalumenhu aveshe vaIsrael tava ti: “Eendunge daHusai, Omuarki, di dule eendunge daAhitofel.” Ndelenee Omwene e shi ninga, opo eendunge diwa da yandjwa kuAhitofel di ninge dongaho, opo Omwene a ete omupya kombada yaAbsalom.
15 Ndele Husai okwa lombwela ovapristeli Sadok naAbjatar: “Eendunge donhumba Ahitofel okwe di pa Absalom novakulunhu vaIsrael, ndelenee ame nde va pa eendunge donhumba. 16 Tumeni ko hano diva mu shiivifile David nokutya: ‘Ino kala oufiku peeshau domombuwa, ndelenee taulukeni shili, ohamba novanhu aveshe ve li puyo vaha dipawe.’ ” 17 Ndelenee Jonatan naAhimas va kala pofifiya yaRogel fimbo omupiya umwe omukainhu ha twaala ondaka kohamba, opo nee okwa ya nokwe i fikifa kohamba David. Ndelenee vo inave uya moshilando vaha monike. 18 Ndelenee omumati umwe e va mona nokwe shi lombwela Absalom. Opo nee aveshe vavali va dja po diva ndele ve uya meumbo lomulumenhu umwe muBahurim. Ye okwa li e nondungu moluumbo laye, ndele va kulukila mo. 19 Nomwalikadi okwa kufa ofaila ndele te i tula kombada yondungu nokwa undila oilya kombada, onghee hano inapa dimbulukiwa sha. 20 Ovapiya vaAbsalom eshi ve uya komwalikadi meumbo, tava pula: “Ahimas naJonatan openi ve li?” Nomwalikadi te va nyamukula: “Vo ova enda po va tauluka okamulonga.” Ova konga ndele inave va mona ndele tava shuna kuJerusalem. 21 Eshi va ya, ovo va li mondungu ova dja mo ndele va twikila ondjila yavo ndele va etela ohamba David ondaka ndele tava ti kuDavid: “Fikama u tauluke diva omeva, osheshi Ahitofel a popya ngaha u nyonwe po. 22 Opo nee David a fikama ndele ovanhu aveshe ovo va li puye va taulula Jordan. Ndele eshi kwa sha, inapa yongolwa nande umwe ou ina taulula Jordan.”
23 Ndele Ahitofel eshi a mona nokutya, eendunge daye inadi shikulwa, okwa manga ondongi yaye ndele ta fikama. Nokwa ya keumbo laye lomoshilando shaye, nokwa longekida eumbo laye ndele e liponda. Osho ngaha hano ye a fya nokwa pakwa mombila yaxe. 24 Ndele David okwa fika kuMahanaim fimbo Absalom pamwe novalumenhu aveshe Ovaisraeli va taulula Jordan.
25 Ndele Absalom okwa lenga Amasa a ninge ondjai yovakwaita ponhele yaJoab. Ndele Amasa okwa li omona omumati womulumenhu umwe, edina laye Jitra, Omuismael, ou a nangala naAbigail, omona okakadona kaNahas, omumwaina waSeruja, ina yaJoab. 26 Ndele Israel naAbsalom va onga onhanda medu laGilead. 27 David eshi a fika kuMahanaim, Sobi yaNahas womuRabba womovana vaAmmoni, naMakir yaAmmiel wokuLodebar naBarsillai Omugilead wokuRogelim 28 va etela David novanhu ovo va li puye eenhanga dokunangala noiyaxa noiyuma yedu nomahangu noilyavala noufila noilya ya fengwa nomakunde olumya nokakunde, 29 nomaadi eenyiki, omashini a ota, eedi noikuki yomashini va lye, osheshi va diladila David novanhu vaye ve nondjala ndele va loloka ndele va kwatwa kenota mombuwa.
