2 Samuel 17:16
Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.
The verse is Hushai's urgent warning to David not to lodge that night in the plains of the wilderness but to pass quickly over the Jordan, lest the king and all the people with him be swallowed up and destroyed by Absalom overtaking them. Because he was not certain the fickle Absalom would follow his counsel instead of Ahithophel's, Hushai acted at once and sent word through the priests to be carried by their sons. The young carriers were suspected and pursued, yet they completed the dangerous delivery that night. David received it worn out with toil and grief after the first day of flight, with his own son seeking his life, and was told he must not remain where he was but must cross the river immediately. In this way Hushai's counsel gave David time to escape before Absalom could overtake him.