2
And I will come upon him while he is weary and weakhanded, and will make him afraid; and all the people who are with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only.
3
And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned; so all the people shall be in peace."
4
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
5
Then said Absalom, "Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith."
6
And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, "Ahithophel hath spoken in this manner. Shall we do according to his word? If not, speak thou."
7
And Hushai said unto Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.
8
For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
9
Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place; and it will come to pass, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, `There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'
10
And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
11
Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12
So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one.