¶ Achitophel apperceyuing his counsell disalowed o•• Huiai and forsaken, hangeth him selfe.
CAP. XVII.
[ A] THen Achitophel sayd vnto Absalom: let me chose our twelue thousand men. And I wil forwarde and folow after Dauid by night, and come vpon him whyle he is we∣rye and weake handed, and w••••••ray him, that all the people that are with him shall flee. And so will I smyte the kynge succourlesse, & will bringe agayne al the people vnto the, for thou ••etchest but after one man, and all the people shall haue rest. And the sayenge plea∣sed Absalom well, and al the elders of Israel. Then sayde Absalom: call also Husai the Ara¦chi••e and let vs heare his aduise. When Hu∣sai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake vn¦to him, sayeng: Achitophel hath gyuen suche counsel, whether it be best we do after his say∣enge or not, tell thou. Then sayde Husai to Absalom: the counsell that Achitophel hath gyuen is not good at this tyme. For (sayde Husai) thou knowest thy father and the men [ B] that are with him, how they be stronge men. And they be chafed in their myndes, as a Bear robbed of her whelpes.* 1.1 And moreouer thy fa¦ther is a man practised in watre, and wil not lye a nyghtes amonges the commen people. Perchaunce he nowe lurketh in some caue or in some other place. And thoughe some of his men be ouerthrowē at the first brunt, yet they that heare it will thinke the people that folo∣weth Absalom, be put to the worsse. By rea∣son wherof euē the best men thou hast whose hertes are as the hertes of Lyons, shal shrink therat. For all Israel knowe that thy father [ C] is a dowtye man, and that they which be with him be valyaunt men. But my counsel is that all Israell be gathered vnto the, frome Dan to Berseba, as the sande of the see in nombre, and that thou goo to battayle in thyne owne personne. And we shall come vpon him in one place or other, where we shall fynde him, and we shall pytche a felde againste him, euen as thicke as the dewe falleth on the grounde. And there shall not one of them be lefte, ney∣ther he ne anye of all that were with him. Moreouer yf he take a towne, then shall all the men of Israel compasse that cytie rounde about with ropes, and we will drawe it into the ryuer, vntyl there be not one stone found vpon an other. And Absalom and all the men of Israel sayde: that the counsel of Husai the Arachite was better then the counsell of A∣chitophel. For it was euen the euen Lordes intent to destroye the counsell of Achitophel:* 1.2 which was good, that the Lorde myght bringe euil [ D] vpon Absalom. Then sayd* 1.3 Husai vnto Sa¦dock and Abiathar the preastes: on this & that maner dyd Achitophel and thelders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and thus haue I counseled. Now therfore sende quyckely and shewe Dauid, sayenge: tary not all nyght in the feldes of the wildernes, but get the ouer lest the kynge be deuoured, and all the people that are with him. Now Ionathas and Ahi∣maaz abode by the wel Rogel / for they might not be sene to come into the cytie. And a we•••• went and tolde them. And they to goo & she∣wed kynge Dauid. Neuerthelesse there was a lad saw them whiche tolde it to Absalom. [ E] But they went both of them awaye quickly, and came to a mans house in Bahurim, whi∣che had a well in his yarde, into whiche they went downe. And the wyfe toke and spred a couerlet on the top of the well, and strawed theron steaped barleye to drye. And the thing was not espyed. So when Absaloms seruaū∣tes came to the wyfe, to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Ionathas were, the wyfe sayde vnto them / they be gone ouer the lytle brooke of water. And when they hadde sought them and coulde not fynde them, they returned to Ierusalem. And as sone as they were departed, the other came out of the wel and went and tolde kynge Dauid, and sayde vnto him / aryse and get you quyckely ouer ye water, for suche counsell hath Achitophel gy∣uen. Thē Dauid arose and all the people that [ F] were with him, and they were come ouer Ior¦dan by day lyght so that there lacked not one of them that was not come ouer Iordan. And when Achitophel sawe his counsell was not folowed, he sadelled his asse, and arose,* 1.4 and gat him home, to his owne cytie, and set his housholde in order and hanged him selfe and dyed, and was buryed in the buryall of his fa¦ther. Then Dauid came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed ouer Iordan, both he and all the men of Israell with him. Then Absalom made Amasa capitayne of the hoste in stede of Ioab which Amasa was a mās sonne named [ G] Iethra a Iezrahelyte that went in to Abigail the doughter of Naah, sister to Zaruiah Io∣abs mother. And Israel and Absalom pitched in the lande of Galaad. And whē Dauid was come to Mahanaim, Sobi the sonne of Na∣ah