⁴ But the woman took the two men and hid them.^[a] Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from.

¹⁹ Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

¹⁹ The man’s wife took a covering, stretched it over the well’s mouth, and spread out grain on it, and nothing was known of it.^{(A) 20} When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have crossed over the brook^[a] of water.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.^(B)

¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “No, but the one whom the Lord and this people and all the Israelites have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ Moreover, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? Just as I have served your father, so I will serve you.”^(A)

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”