2 Samuel 17:8-10

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁸ Hushai said moreover, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, 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 when some of the people fall^[a] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab′salom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men.