16. Now send word immediately to David and tell him, ‘Don’t spend the night in the desert plains. You must cross over immediately. Otherwise, the king and all the troops who are with him will be swallowed up whole.’"
17. Jonathan and Ahimaaz were standing by at En-rogel. A female servant would come and report to them, and they would then travel and report to King David because they couldn’t risk being seen entering the city.
18. But a boy saw them and reported it to Absalom. So the two of them left immediately and came to a man’s house at Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.
19. The man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the well’s opening, then scattered grain over it so no one would notice.
20. When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house they demanded, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?"The woman told them, "They crossed over the stream." They looked for them but found nothing, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21. After they had left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went and reported to King David, "Get up! Cross the water immediately because Ahithophel has made plans against you!"
22. So David and all the troops who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. By daybreak there was no one left who hadn’t crossed the Jordan.
23. Meanwhile, once Ahithophel saw that his advice hadn’t been followed, he saddled his donkey and went home to his own town. He gave instructions to his household, then hanged himself and died. He was buried in his father’s tomb.
24. David had reached Mahanaim by the time Absalom and all the Israelites who were with him crossed the Jordan River.
25. Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, an Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, who was Nahash’s daughter and the sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.