Ahithophel gave advice to Absalom

15 While that was happening, Absalom and all the Israeli people who were with him had arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel had also arrived there. 16 When David’s friend Hushai came to Absalom, he said to Absalom, “I desire/hope that the king will live a long time! May you live for many years!”

17 Absalom said to Hushai, “You have been loyal [RHQ] to your friend David for a long time. So why did you not go with him instead of coming to me?”

18 Hushai replied, “I will serve the one whom Yahweh and these people and all the other people of Israel have chosen to be their king. So I will stay with you. 19 You are my master King David’s son; if I do not serve you, what other man should I serve [RHQ]? I will serve you as I served your father.”

20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “What do you advise that we should do?”

21 Ahithophel replied, “Your father left some of his slave wives in the palace to take care of it. Have sex [EUP] with them. When everyone in Israel hears that you have done that, they will realize that you are acting very contemptuously toward your father. Then all those who are with you will be very encouraged.” 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. And Absalom went into the tent and had sex [EUP] with his father’s slave wives, one by one, and everyone [HYP] could see him going into the tent.

23 In those days, people accepted what Ahithophel recommended as though he were speaking the words of God. So just as David had always accepted what Ahithophel said, now Absalom did also.

17 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Allow me to choose 12,000 men, and I will leave with them tonight to pursue David. 2 We will attack him while he is tired and discouraged, and cause him to be very frightened. All the soldiers who are with him will run away. We will kill only the king. 3 Then we will bring back all his soldiers to you, like [SIM] a ◄bride/woman comes to her husband when she is married►. You are wanting to kill only one man; so the other people will not be harmed.” 4 Absalom and all the Israeli leaders who were with him thought that what Ahithophel said would be good to do.

5 But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai also, and we will hear what he suggests.” 6 So when Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had suggested. Then he asked Hushai, “What do you think we should do? If you do not think that we should do what Ahithophel suggests, tell us what you think that we should do.”

7 Hushai replied, “This time what Ahithophel has suggested is not good advice. 8 You know that your father and the men who are with him are strong soldiers, and that now they are very angry, like [SIM] a mother bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Furthermore, your father knows how to fight because he has fought in many battles. He will not stay with his troops during the night. 9 Right now he is probably already hiding in one of the pits, or in some other place. If his soldiers start to attack your soldiers, and if they kill some of them, whoever hears about that will say ‘Many of the soldiers with Absalom have been killed!’ 10 Then your other soldiers, even if they are as fearless [SIM, IDM] as lions, they will become very afraid. Do not forget that everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great/strong soldier, and that the soldiers who are with him are also very brave/courageous.

11 “So what I suggest is that you summon all the Israeli soldiers, from Dan in the far north to Beersheba in the far south. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore [HYP]. And then you yourself lead us into the battle. 12 We will find your father, wherever he is, and we will attack him from all sides, like [SIM] dew covers all the ground. And neither he nor any of the soldiers who are with him will survive. 13 If he escapes into some city, all our soldiers will bring ropes and pull that city down into the valley. As a result, not one stone will be left there on top of the hill where that city was!”

14 Absalom and all the other Israeli men who were with him said, “What Hushai suggests is better than what Ahithophel suggested.” The reason that happened was that Yahweh had determined that if they would accept the good advice that Ahithophel had given them, they would have been able to defeat/kill David. But as a result of their doing what Hushai suggested, Yahweh would cause a disaster to happen to Absalom.