8 For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like ^aa 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 ^amelt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.  ‡

11 Therefore I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, ^afrom Dan to Beersheba, ^blike the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.  ‡