17:1
    [kjv]  Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
    [bbe]  Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David:
17:2
    [kjv]  And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
    [bbe]  And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only:
17:3
    [kjv]  And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
    [bbe]  And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace.
17:4  
    [kjv]  And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
    [bbe]  And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel.
17:5  
    [kjv]  Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.
    [bbe]  Then Absalom said, Now send for Hushai the Archite, and let us give ear to what he has to say.
17:6  
    [kjv]  And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.
    [bbe]  And when Hushai came, Absalom said to him, This is what Ahithophel has said: are we to do as he says? if not, what is your suggestion?
17:7
    [kjv]  And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.
    [bbe]  And Hushai said to Absalom, Ahithophel's idea is not a good one at this time.
17:8
    [kjv]  For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
    [bbe]  Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people;
17:9
    [kjv]  Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
    [bbe]  But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side.
17:10
    [kjv]  And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.
    [bbe]  Then even the strongest, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will become like water; for all Israel is conscious that your father is a man of war, and those who are with him are strong and without fear.
17:11  
    [kjv]  Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
    [bbe]  But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them.
17:12
    [kjv]  So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
    [bbe]  Then we will come on him in some place, wherever he may be, falling on him as the dew comes on the earth: and of him and all the men who are with him not one will get away with his life.
17:13
    [kjv]  Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.
    [bbe]  And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there.
17:14  
    [kjv]  And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
    [bbe]  Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom.
17:15
    [kjv]  Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
    [bbe]  Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, This is the suggestion made by Ah............