2 Samuel 17:9 - Plain English Version

⁹ Maybe he will go and hide in a cave in the hills. Nobody can find him there. But then he and his soldiers might suddenly come and attack your mob of soldiers. Lots of your men might die. Everybody will hear about it and think, ‘Hey, look out. David’s mob finished up Absalom’s mob.’

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

⁹ 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.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

⁹ Behold, he is hidden even now in some pit or other place; and when some of them are overthrown at the first, whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the followers of Absalom.

American Standard Version (1901)

⁹ Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

Common English Bible

⁹ Even now he has probably hidden himself in one of the caves or some other place. When some of the troops fall in the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘The soldiers who follow Absalom have been defeated!’

Catholic Public Domain Version

⁹ Perhaps now he hides in pits, or in another place, wherever he wills. And if by chance, in the beginning, anyone may fall, whoever hears about it, no matter what he has heard, will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people who were following Absalom.'

2 Samuel 17:9 Cross References

2 Samuel 17:10

Everybody knows that David and his men are brave and strong. If your other soldiers think he beat our mob, they will be afraid. Even the brave ones will be afraid.

2 Samuel 17:8

You know that your father and his men are strong soldiers. They are good fighters, like cheeky wild animals. And he really knows what he is doing too. He always sleeps a long way from the soldiers, so he will stay safe.

1 Samuel 24:3

There were yards for sheep and goats at that place, near a cave. David and his men were in that place before Saul and his men got there, and David’s mob went into the cave to hide. Later on, Saul and his men came, and Saul went into the cave by himself to go to the toilet. But David and his men were already in that cave, right at the back. The cave was very big, so Saul did not see them.