3. And I will bring back all the people unto you: only the man whom you seek will be struck: 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 says.
6. And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak you.
7. And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel 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 chafed 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 come to pass, when some of the people fall at the first attack, that whosoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
10. And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they who are with him are valiant men.
11. Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto you, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, 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 upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13. Moreover, if he has gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.
14. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had purposed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
15. Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counseled.
16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.