1. Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.
2. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king.
3. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.”
4. And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
5. Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says too.”
6. And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up.”
7. So Hushai said to Absalom: “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.
8. For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not camp with the people.
9. Surely by now he is hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will be, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’
10. And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
11. Therefore I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.