17 ¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, 'Let me pick twelve thousand men, and I will pursue David tonight. 17 ² I shall overtake him when he is tired and dispirited; I will cut him off from his people and they will all scatter; and I shall kill no one but the king. 17 ³ I will bring all the people over to you as a bride is brought to her husband. It is only one man's life that you are seeking; the rest of the people will be unharmed.' 17 ⁴ Absalom and all the elders of Israel approved of Ahithophel's advice;

17 ⁵ but Absalom said, 'Summon Hushai the Archite and let us hear what he too has to say.' 17 ⁶ Hushai came, and Absalom told him all that Ahithophel had said and asked him, 'Shall we do what he says? If not, say what you think.'

17 ⁷ Hushai said to Absalom, 'For once the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good. 17 ⁸ You know', he went on, 'that your father and the men with him are hardened warriors and savage as a bear in the wilds robbed of her cubs. Your father is an old campaigner and will not spend the night with the main body; 17 ⁹ even now he will be lying hidden in a pit or in some such place. Then if any of your men are killed at the outset, anyone who hears the news will say, "Disaster has overtaken the followers of Absalom." 17 ¹⁰ The courage of the most resolute and lion-hearted will melt away, for all Israel knows that your father is a man of war and has determined men with him. 17 ¹¹ My advice is this. Wait until the whole of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, is gathered about you, countless as grains of sand on the sea-shore, and then you shall march with them in person. 17 ¹² Then we shall come upon him somewhere, wherever he may be, and descend on him like dew falling on the ground, and not a man of his family or of his followers will be left alive. 17 ¹³ If he retreats into a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into a ravine until not a stone can be found on the site.' 17 ¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, 'Hushai the Archite gives us better advice than Ahithophel.' It was the LORD's purpose to frustrate Ahithophel's good advice and so bring disaster upon Absalom.