2. and come upon him while he is weary and weak. And I shall make him afraid and all the people who are with him shall flee. And I shall smite the sovereign alone,
3. and bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people should be at peace.”
4. And the saying pleased Aḇshalom and all the elders of Yisra’ĕl.
5. But Aḇshalom said, “Now call Ḥushai the Arkite also, and let us hear what he says too.”
6. And Ḥushai came to Aḇshalom, and Aḇshalom spoke to him, saying, “Aḥithophel has spoken according to this word. Should we do as he says? If not, speak up.”
7. And Ḥushai said to Aḇshalom, “The advice that Aḥithophel has given is not good at this time.”
8. And Ḥushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are as bitter in being as a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of battle, and would not spend the night with the people.
9. “See, by now he is hidden in some pit, or in some place. And it shall be, when some of them fall at the first, that whoever hears it shall say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who are following Aḇshalom.’
10. “And even he who is brave, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, would utterly melt. For all Yisra’ĕl knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are brave men.
11. “But I advise: Let all Yisra’ĕl without fail be gathered to you, from Dan to Be’ĕrsheḇa, as numerous as the sand by the sea, and that you yourself go to battle.
12. “And we shall come upon him in some place where he is found, and fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And there shall be left of him and of all the men with him not even one.
13. “And if he withdraws into a city, then all Yisra’ĕl shall bring ropes to that city. And we shall pull it into the wadi, until there is not one small stone found there.”