³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^(A)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (A)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(B)wise as serpents and ^(C)innocent as doves.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call ^(A)Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” ⁷ Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,^{[a] (B)}like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall^[b] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^(C)melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ^(D)from Dan to Beersheba, ^(E)as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹² So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be 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.” ^(F)For the Lord had ordained^[c] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

¹⁶ And when Hushai the Archite, ^(A)David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, ^(B)“Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? ^(C)Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ And again, ^(D)whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”

²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go ^(A)I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show^[a] steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”

² And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did ^(A)to Jericho and its king. Only ^(B)its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”