Ahithophel And Hushai Argue Competing Strategies Before Absalom

1Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and let me arise and pursue David tonight.”

2I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and I will throw him into panic, so that all the people who are with him will flee; then I will strike down the king alone.

3and I will bring back all the people to you, as when all return, the man whom you seek will be gone; all the people will be at peace.

4The proposal seemed good in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5Then Absalom said, “Please call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he too has to say.”

6When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has spoken in this way. Should we do as he says? If not, you speak.”

7Then Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”

8Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and bitter of soul, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war; he will not spend the night with the troops.”

9Look, right now he is hidden in one of the pits or in one of the other places. And when some of them fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

10Even the valiant man whose heart is like a lion’s heart will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that the men with him are valiant men.

11But I advise that all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sand that is by the sea, and that you yourself go into battle.

12Then we will come upon him in one of the places where he is found, and we will settle on him just as the dew falls on the ground; and not one will be left of him and of all the men who are with him—not even one.

13And if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it to the wadi until not even a small stone is found there.

14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that Yahweh might bring disaster on Absalom.