⁸ You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs.^(A) Besides, your father is an experienced fighter;^(B) he will not spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place.^(C) If he should attack your troops first,^[a] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion,^(D) will melt^(E) with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.^(F)