Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River<n id="1" /> and went through the whole region of Bitron<n id="2" /> and came to Mahanaim.p>

They took Asahel&#8217;s body and buried him in his father&#8217;s tomb at Bethlehem.<n id="1" /> Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Ahithophel said to Absalom, &#8220;Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night.

<p class="bodytext">They had entered<n id="1" /> the house while Ish-bosheth<n id="2" /> was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him<n id="3" /> and then cut off his head.<n id="4" /> Taking his head,<n id="5" /> they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night.

Now send word quickly to David and warn him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Don&#8217;t spend the night at the fords of the desert<n id="2" /> tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,<n id="3" /> or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to<n id="1" /> your servants. For I swear by the <sc>Lordsc> that if you don&#8217;t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!&#8221;p>