4
The saying pleased Avshalom well, and all the Zakenim of Yisra'el.
5
Then said Avshalom, Call now Hushai the Arki also, and let us hear likewise what he says.
6
When Hushai was come to Avshalom, Avshalom spoke to him, saying, Achitofel has spoken after this manner: shall we do [after] his saying? if not, speak up.
7
Hushai said to Avshalom, The counsel that Achitofel has given this time is not good.
8
Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and your 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 happen, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Avshalom.
10
Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Yisra'el knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
11
But I counsel that all Yisra'el be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
12
So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.
13
Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Yisra'el bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there not be one small stone found there.
14
Avshalom and all the men of Yisra'el said, The counsel of Hushai the Arki is better than the counsel of Achitofel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Achitofel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil on Avshalom.