Dixit ergo Achitophel ad Absalom: Eligam mihi duodecim millia virorum, et consurgens persequar David hac nocte.

Now, said Achitophel to Absalom, let me pick twelve thousand men, and set out in pursuit of David this very night;

And Achitophel said to Absalom: I will choose me twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.

Et irruens super eum (quippe qui lassus est, et solutis manibus), percutiam eum: cumque fugerit omnis populus qui cum eo est, percutiam regem desolatum.

so I shall overtake him and easily defeat him, weary as he is and unnerved; first scatter the company that went with him, and then strike him down, with none to aid him.

And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed) I will defeat him: and when all the people is put to flight that is with him, I will kill the king who will be left alone.

Et reducam universum populum, quomodo unus homo reverti solet: unum enim virum tu quæris: et omnis populus erit in pace.

All the people I will bring round to thy cause, as easily as I would persuade a single man; thou hast but one enemy, the rest of the people will be well content.

And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one man: for thou seekest but one man: and all the people shall be in peace.

Placuitque sermo ejus Absalom, et cunctis majoribus natu Israël.

Both Absalom and all the elders of Israel liked his counsel well;

And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.

Ait autem Absalom: Vocate Chusai Arachiten, et audiamus quid etiam ipse dicat.

but Absalom would have them summon Chusai the Arachite, to find out his opinion too.

But Absalom said: Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear what he also saith.

Cumque venisset Chusai ad Absalom, ait Absalom ad eum: Hujuscemodi sermonem locutus est Achitophel: facere debemus an non? quod das consilium?

So Chusai the Arachite came in, and Absalom told him what Achitophel had said; Were it well done? he asked. What advice givest thou?

And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him: Achitophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do it or not? what counsel dost thou give?

Et dixit Chusai ad Absalom: Non est bonum consilium quod dedit Achitophel hac vice.

And Chusai answered, No, it will not serve our turn, this counsel Achitophel has given.

And Chusai said to Absalom: The counsel that Achitophel hath given this time is not good.

Et rursum intulit Chusai: Tu nosti patrem tuum, et viros qui cum eo sunt, esse fortissimos et amaro animo, veluti si ursa raptis catulis in saltu sæviat: sed et pater tuus vir bellator est, nec morabitur cum populo.

Bethink thee now, what brave warriors they are, thy father and the men he leads; how fierce in their anger, fierce as the she-bear that lurks in a wood, when her cubs have been taken away from her; thy father is a fighting man, he will not remain there among the common folk.

And again Chusai said: Thou knowest thy father, and the men that are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind, as a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away: and thy father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people.

Forsitan nunc latitat in foveis, aut in uno, quo voluerit, loco: et cum ceciderit unus quilibet in principio, audiet quicumque audierit, et dicet: Facta est plaga in populo qui sequebatur Absalom.

No, by now he is hidden in some pit under ground, or some other vantage-point. A few deaths among his pursuers, and the word will go round, Absalom’s followers are routed!

Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where he list: and when any one shall fall at the first, every one that heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that followed Absalom.

Et fortissimus quisque, cujus cor est quasi leonis, pavore solvetur: scit enim omnis populus Israël fortem esse patrem tuum, et robustos omnes qui cum eo sunt.

Then the most lion-hearted will be overcome with sudden fear; well all the people of Israel knows that thy father and the warriors that bear him company are men of mettle.

And the most valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall melt for fear: for all the people of Israel know thy father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are valiant.

Sed hoc mihi videtur rectum esse consilium. Congregetur ad te universus Israël, a Dan usque Bersabee, quasi arena maris innumerabilis: et tu eris in medio eorum.

No, here is a plan more to my liking, that thou shouldst summon all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, an army countless as the sand, and thyself march out with it.

But this seemeth to me to be good counsel: Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered: and thou shalt be in the midst of them.

Et irruemus super eum in quocumque loco inventus fuerit, et operiemus eum, sicut cadere solet ros super terram: et non relinquemus de viris qui cum eo sunt, ne unum quidem.

Hide he where he may, we will find him, and we will be all about him, covering the earth like dew; never a man of his company shall escape us.

And we shall come upon him in what place soever he shall be found: and we shall cover him, as the dew falleth upon the ground, and we shall not leave of the men that are with him, not so much as one.

Quod si urbem aliquam fuerit ingressus, circumdabit omnis Israël civitati illi funes, et trahemus eam in torrentem, ut non reperiatur ne calculus quidem ex ea.

Why, even if he should defend himself behind city walls, this great army of Israel could wind ropes round it and drag it down into the nearest valley, till never a stone was to be found of it!

And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall cast ropes round about that city, and we will draw it into the river, so that there shall not be found so much as one small stone thereof.

Dixitque Absalom, et omnes viri Israël: Melius est consilium Chusai Arachitæ, consilio Achitophel: Domini autem nutu dissipatum est consilium Achitophel utile, ut induceret Dominus super Absalom malum.

Thereupon Absalom and all the men of Israel agreed that Chusai the Arachite had given better counsel than Achitophel. Whereas in truth Achitophel’s advice was the more to their purpose, but the Lord foiled it, to compass Absalom’s ruin.

And Absalom, and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of Chusai the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel: and by the will of the Lord the profitable counsel of Achitophel was defeated, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.

Et ait Chusai Sadoc et Abiathar sacerdotibus: Hoc et hoc modo consilium dedit Achitophel Absalom et senioribus Israël: et ego tale et tale dedi consilium.

Then Chusai told the priests, Sadoc and Abiathar, what Achitophel’s counsel had been, and what his own;

And Chusai said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and thus and thus did I counsel them.

Nunc ergo mittite cito, et nuntiate David, dicentes: Ne moreris nocte hac in campestribus deserti, sed absque dilatione transgredere: ne forte absorbeatur rex, et omnis populus qui cum eo est.

Send a message to David, said he, with all speed, telling him not to linger in the desert plain this night, but cross Jordan without delay; else he and all that are with him may be overwhelmed.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass over: lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him.

Jonathas autem et Achimaas stabant juxta fontem Rogel: abiit ancilla et nuntiavit eis. Et illi profecti sunt, ut referrent ad regem David nuntium: non enim poterant videri, aut introire civitatem.

Jonathan and Achimaas stood at their post by the spring of Rogel, and a maid-servant must go and give them the message before they could take it to king David; they did not dare shew themselves in the city.

And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel: and there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry the message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into the city.

Vidit autem eos quidam puer, et indicavit Absalom: illi vero concito gradu ingressi sunt domum cujusdam viri in Bahurim, qui habebat puteum in vestibulo suo: et descenderunt in eum.

Even so a lad saw them, and told Absalom, and they must turn aside with all speed into the house of a man at Bahurim, that had a well by the porch of it, and climb down into this for safety.

But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they making haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

Tulit autem mulier, et expandit velamen super os putei, quasi siccans ptisanas: et sic latuit res.

Nor was their hiding-place discovered; a woman came and spread a cloth over the mouth of the well, as if she would dry her barley-groats there;

And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as it were to dry sodden barley: and so the thing was not known.

Cumque venissent servi Absalom in domum, ad mulierem dixerunt: Ubi est Achimaas et Jonathas? Et respondit eis mulier: Transierunt festinanter, gustata paululum aqua. At hi qui quærebant, cum non reperissent, reversi sunt in Jerusalem.

and when Absalom’s men reached the house, asking her where were Jonathan and Achimaas, she said they had gone quickly on their way, only stopping for a mouthful of water; so their pursuers returned baffled to Jerusalem.

And when Absalom’s servants were come into the house, they said to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman answered them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little water. But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned into Jerusalem.

Cumque abiissent, ascenderunt illi de puteo, et pergentes nuntiaverunt regi David, et dixerunt: Surgite, et transite cito fluvium: quoniam hujuscemodi dedit consilium contra vos Achitophel.

These gone, Jonathan and Achimaas climbed up out of the well, and brought king David word; Bestir yourselves, they said, and cross the river without more ado; and told what advice Achitophel had given.

And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and going on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the river: for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you.

Surrexit ergo David, et omnis populus qui cum eo erat, et transierunt Jordanem, donec dilucesceret: et ne unus quidem residuus fuit, qui non transisset fluvium.

So king David and all that bore him company took the road, and were across Jordan before ever dawn broke; not a man was left west of the river.

So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them was left that was not gone over the river.

Porro Achitophel videns quod non fuisset factum consilium suum, stravit asinum suum, surrexitque, et abiit in domum suam et in civitatem suam: et disposita domo sua, suspendio interiit, et sepultus est in sepulchro patris sui.

As for Achitophel, when he found that his advice was not followed, he saddled his ass and went home to Gilon; there he put his affairs in order, and hanged himself. So there they buried him, in his father’s tomb.

But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city, and putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

David autem venit in castra, et Absalom transivit Jordanem, ipse et omnes viri Israël cum eo.

David made his way to the Encampment; and now Absalom crossed the Jordan after him, with all Israel at his back.

But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

Amasam vero constituit Absalom pro Joab super exercitum: Amasa autem erat filius viri qui vocabatur Jetra de Jezraëli, qui ingressus est ad Abigail filiam Naas, sororem Sarviæ, quæ fuit mater Joab.

In Joab’s place, Absalom gave the command of his army to Amasa, that was son to a man called Jethra, of Jezrahel; he had mated with Abigail, daughter of Naas, that was sister to Joab’s mother Sarvia.

Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab’s stead over the army: and Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra of Jezrael, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of Sarvia who was the mother of Joab.

Et castrametatus est Israël cum Absalom in terra Galaad.

So Israel, and Absalom with them, pitched their tents in the country of Galaad.

And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad.

Cumque venisset David in castra, Sobi filius Naas de Rabbath filiorum Ammon, et Machir filius Ammihel de Lodabar, et Berzellai Galaadites de Rogelim,

Meanwhile, upon David’s coming to the Encampment, Sobi son of Naas the Ammonite, and Machir son of Ammihel from Lodabar, and Berzellai that dwelt in Galaad, at Rogelim,

And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel of Lodabar, and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim,

obtulerunt ei stratoria, et tapetia, et vasa fictilia, frumentum, et hordeum, et farinam, et polentam, et fabam, et lentem, et frixum cicer,

brought him presents; beds and coverlets and earthenware, wheat and barley, flour and parched corn, beans and lentils and fried pulse,

Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and fried pulse,

et mel, et butyrum, oves, et pingues vitulos: dederuntque David, et populo qui cum eo erat, ad vescendum: suspicati enim sunt populum fame et siti fatigari in deserto.

honey and butter, sheep and fattened calves. So they made provision for David and his followers, that were like to be hard pressed with hunger and thirst, there in the desert.

And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they gave to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the wilderness.