2 Samuel 17:5–10

The Advice of Hushai

5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he dsays 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 ea 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 fmelt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.