16. “Quickly! Send a message to David. Tell him not to stay tonight at the crossings into the desert but to cross over the Jordan River at once. If he crosses the river, he and all his people won’t be destroyed.”
17. Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel. They did not want to be seen going into the city, so a servant girl would go out to them and give them messages. Then Jonathan and Ahimaaz would go and tell King David.
18. But a boy saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom. So Jonathan and Ahimaaz left quickly and went to a man’s house in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.
19. The man’s wife spread a sheet over the opening of the well and covered it with grain. No one could tell that anyone was hiding there.
20. Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”She said to them, “They have already crossed the brook.”Absalom’s servants then went to look for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they could not find them. So they went back to Jerusalem.
21. After Absalom’s servants left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well and went to tell King David. They said, “Hurry, cross over the river! Ahithophel has said these things against you!”