David said to himself, "One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is to escape to Philistia. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel, and I will be safe."

So David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "We must get away at once if we want to escape from Absalom! Hurry! Or else he will soon be here and defeat us and kill everyone in the city!"

After they left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the well and went and reported to King David. They told him what Ahithophel had planned against him and said, "Hurry up and cross the river."

So David and his men started crossing the Jordan, and by daybreak they had all gone across.

Don't let yourself go to sleep or even stop to rest.

Get out of the trap like a bird or a deer escaping from a hunter.

I wish I had a place to stay in the desert where I could get away from my people. They are all unfaithful, a mob of traitors.

So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property.