Thomson(i)
5 yet Abessalom said, Call, I pray you, Chousi the Arachite, and let us hear also what he saith.
6 And when Chousi came to Abessalom, Abessalom spoke to him saying, In this manner Achitophel has spoken; shall we do as he adviseth? If not, speak thou.
7 Upon this Chousi said to Abessalom, The counsel which Achitophel hath given, is, for this once, not good.
8 Thou thyself, said Chousi, knowest thy father and his men, that they are very brave, and chafed in their minds like a bear bereaved of her whelps in the fields; or like a wild boar in the plain. And thy father is a man of war, and will not let the people rest.
9 For behold he is now hid in one of the mountains, or in some secure place, and it shall be that when he shall sally out on them at the first, every one who heareth will say, There hath been a slaughter among them who follow Abessalom:
10 in which case the son of valour himself, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will assuredly be dismayed. For all Israel know that thy father is a mighty man, and that they who are with him are sons of valour.
11 This therefore is the counsel which I would give; Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, like the sand which is on the sea shore for multitude; and let thy presence go forth in the midst of them.
12 And when we shall come upon him in one of the places where we may find him, we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the ground. And we will not leave with him or the men who are with him so much as one man.
13 And if he be shut up in any city, all Israel will take ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the ditch, so that there shall not be left so much as a stone.
14 And Abessalom, and all Israel, said, The counsel of Chousi the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord had determined to defeat the counsel of Achitophel, which was good, that the Lord might bring upon Abessalom all the consequent evils.