2 Samuel 17:1-10

1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.
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.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.