Judith 5
1 Then was it declared to Holofernes,
the chief captain of the army of Assur, that the children of Israel had
prepared for war, and had shut up the passages of the hill country, and had
fortified all the tops of the high hills, and had laid impediments in the
champaign countries: 2 wherewith he
was very angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon,
and all the governors of the sea coast,
3 and he said unto them, Tell me now,
ye sons of Chanaan, who this people is, that dwelleth in the hill country, and
what are the cities that they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their
army, and wherein is their power and strength, and what king is set over them,
or captain of their army; 4 and why
have they determined not to come and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of
the west?
5 Then said Achior, the captain of all
the sons of Ammon, Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of thy servant,
and I will declare unto thee the truth concerning this people, which dwelleth
near thee, and inhabiteth the hill countries: and there shall no lie come out
of the mouth of thy servant. 6 This
people are descended of the Chaldeans:
7 and they sojourned heretofore in
Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which
were in the land of Chaldea. 8 For
they left the way of their ancestors, and worshipped the God of heaven, the
God whom they knew: so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and
they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.
9 Then their God commanded them to
depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of
Chanaan: where they dwelt, and were increased with gold and silver, and with
very much cattle. 10 But when a
famine covered all the land of Chanaan, they went down into Egypt, and
sojourned there, while they were nourished, and became there a great
multitude, so that one could not number their nation.
11 Therefore the king of Egypt rose
up against them, and dealt subtilly with them, and brought them low with
labouring in brick, and made them slaves.
12 Then they cried unto their God,
and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: so the Egyptians
cast them out of their sight. 13 And
God dried the Red sea before them,
14 and brought them to mount Sina,
and Cades-Barne, and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness.
15 So they dwelt in the land of the
Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Esebon, and passing
over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.
16 And they cast forth before them
the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the
Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many days.
17 And whilst they sinned not before
their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.
18 But when they departed from the
way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore,
and were led captives into a land that was not their's, and the temple of
their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies.
19 But now are they returned to their
God, and are come up from the places where they were scattered, and have
possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill
country; for it was desolate. 20 Now
therefore, my lord and governor, if there be any error in this people, and
they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and
let us go up, and we shall overcome them.
21 But if there be no iniquity in
their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their
God be for them, and we become a reproach before all
the world.
22 And when Achior had finished these
sayings, all the people standing round about the tent murmured, and the chief
men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that
he should kill him. 23 For,
say they, we will not be afraid of the face of the
children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power
for a strong battle.
24 Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we
will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.