Then sayd Absalom: call also Husai the Ara∣chite, and let vs heare his counsayle. When Husai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake vnto hym, sayenge: Ahithophell hath gyuen suche counsell: Shal we do after his saynge, or no? tell thou.
Husai answered vnto Absalom: the coun∣sayle that Ahithophel hath gyuē, is not good [unspec B] at this tyme. For (sayd Husai) yu knowest thy father, & his men howe that they be stronge? And yf they be chaufed in theyr myndes, they are euen as a Beare robbed of her whelpes in the feelde. Thy father is a man also practi¦sed in warre, & maketh no taryenge with the people: beholde, he lurketh now in some caue or in some other place. And though some of his me be ouerthrowen at the fyrst brunt, yet they that heare it wyll saye: The people that foloweth Absalom, be put to the worse. And the best men thou haste, whose hertes are as the hertes of Lyons, shal shrynke therat. For al Israel knoweth, that thy father is a migh∣tye man, and they which be with hym are all men of warre.
Therfore my counsayle is, that all Israel [unspec C] be gathered vnto the, from Dan to Beerseba (which are as the sande of the see in nombre) and that thou go to battayle in thyne owne person. For so shal we come vpon hym in one place or other, where we shal fynde hym, and we wyll fall vpon hym, euen as thycke as the dewe falleth on the grounde. And of all the men that are with him, we shal not leaue him one. Moreouer, yf he be gotten into a towne, then shall all the men of Israel bryng ropes to that citye, and we wyl drawe it into the ry∣uer, vntyll there be not one stone foūde there. And Absalom and al the men of Israel sayd: the counsayle of Husai the Arachite is better then the counsell of Ahithophel. For it was euen the lordes determinacion to destroy the good counsayle of Ahithophel: that the lorde myght bryng euyll vpon Absalom. [unspec D]
Then sayd Husai vnto Sadocke & Abia that the preestes: of this and that maner dyd Ahithophel and the elders of Israell coun∣sayle Absalom. And thus and thus haue I counsayled. Nowe therfore sende quyckely, and shewe Dauid, saynge: tary not all nyght in the feldes of the wyldernesse, but get the ouer, lest the kyng be deuoured & all the peo∣ple that are with hym. Nowe Ionathas and Ahimaaz abode by the well Rogell: (for they myght not be sene to come into the citie.) And a wenche went & tolde them. And they wente, and shewed kynge Dauid.
Neuerthelesse a lad sawe them, and tolde [unspec E] it to Absalom. But they wente bothe of them away quyckly, and came to a mannes house in Bahurim, whiche had a wel in his yearde, into the whiche they went downe. And a wo∣man toke & spred a couerlet ouer the welles mouth, and strawed furmenty corne theron. And the thyng was not spyed. And when Ab¦saloms seruaūt{is} cam to the wife, to the house they sayde. Where is Ahimaaz & Ionathas? The woman answered them: they be gone ouer the lytell broke of water. And when they had sought them and coulde not fynde them, they returned to Ierusalem. And as soone as [unspec F] they were departed, the other came out of the well, & went and tolde kynge Dauid, & sayde vnto hym: vp, & get you quyckly ouer the wa¦ter, for suche counsayle hath Ahithophel gy∣uen, agaynst you. Then Dauid arose, and al the peple that were wt hym, & they were come ouer Iordan by that it was day: so that there lacked not one of them, that was not come o∣uer Iordan. And when Ahithophel saw, that his counsayle was not folowed, he sadled his Asse, & arose, and gat hym home to his owne house, & to his owne citye, and put his house holde in order, & hanged hym selfe, & dyed, & was buryed in the sepulthre of his father.
Then Dauid came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed ouer Iordan, he and all the [unspec G] men of Israel with hym. And Absalom made Amasa captayn of the hoost in stede of Ioab whiche Amasa was a mannes sonne named Iethra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the doughter of Nahas, syster to Zeruia Io∣abs mother. So Israel & Absalō pytched in the lande of Gilead. And when Dauid was come to Mahanaim, Sobi the son of Nahas out of Rabba the citie of the chyldrē of Am∣mon, & Machir the son of Ammiel out of Lo∣deber, & Berzela•• the Geliadite out of Ro∣glim, brought bedd{is}, basyns, earthen vessels, wheat & barly, floure, & parched corne, beenes rice, ootemele, hony, butter, shepe, & chese of kyne, for Dauid & al the people that were wt him, to eate. For they sayd: the people is hun∣grye, werye, and thrystye in the wyldernesse.