The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Judith 05
1 Holofernes, the chief captain of the
army of Asshur, was told that the children
of Israel had prepared for war, had shut
up the passages of the hill country, had
fortified all the tops of the high hills, and
had set up barricades in the plains.
2 Then he was exceedingly angry, and he
called all the princes of Moab, the captains
of Ammon, and all the governors ofthe sea
coast,
3 and he said to them, “Tell me now, you
sons of Canaan, who are these people who
dwell in the hill country? What are the
cities that they inhabit? How large is their
army? Where is their power and their
strength? What king is set over them, to be
the leader of their army?
4 Why have they turned their backs, that
they should not come and meet me, more
than all who dwell in the west?”
5 Then Achior, the leader of all the children
of Ammon, said to him, “Let my lord
now hear a word from the mouth of your
servant, and I will tell you the truth
concerning these people who dwell in this
hill country, near to the place where you
dwell. No lie will come out of the mouth of
your servant.
6 These people are descended from the
Chaldeans.
7 They sojourned before this in
Mesopotamia, because they didn’t want
to follow the gods of their fathers, which
were in the land of the Chaldeans.
8 They departed from the way of their
parents, and worshiped the God of heaven,
the God whom they knew. Their parents
cast them out from the face of their gods,
and they fled into Mesopotamia and
sojourned there many days.
9 Thentheir God commanded them to depart
from the place where they sojourned,
and to go into the land of Canaan. They
lived there, and prospered with gold and
silver, and with exceedingly much cattle.
10 Then they went down into Egypt, for
a famine covered all the land of Canaan.
They sojourned thereuntiltheyhad grown
up. They became a great multitude there,
so that one could not count the population
of their nation.
11 Then the king of Egypt rose up against
them, and dealt subtly with them, and
brought them low, making them labor in
brick,† and made them slaves.
12 They cried to their God, and he
struck all the land of Egypt with incurable
plagues; so the Egyptians cast them out of
their sight.
13 God dried up the Red sea before them,
14 and broughttheminto the way of Sinai
Kadesh-Barnea and they cast out all that
lived in the wilderness.
15 They lived in the land of the Amorites,
and they destroyed by their strength
everyone in Heshbon. Passing over Jordan,
they possessed all the hill country.
16 They cast out before them the Canaanite,
the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Shechemite,
and all the Girgashites, and they
lived in that country many days.
17 And while they didn’t sin before their
God, they prospered, because God who
hates iniquity was with them.
18 But when they departed from the way
which he appointed them, they were destroyed
in many severe battles, and were led captives
into a land that was not theirs. The temple of
their God was razed to the ground, and
their cities were taken by their adversaries.
19 And now they have returned to their
God, and have come up from the dispersion
where they were dispersed, and have possessed
Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is,
and are settled in the hill country;
for it was desolate.
20 And now, my lord and master, if there
is any error in this people, and they sin
against their God, we will find out what
this thing is in which they stumble, and we
will go up and overcome them.
21 But if there is no lawlessness in their
nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their
Lord defend them, and their God be for
them, and we will be a reproach before all
the earth.”
22 It came to pass, when Achior had finished
speaking these words, all the people
standing around the tent complained. The
great men of Holofernes, and all who lived
by the sea side and in Moab, said that he
should be cut to pieces.
23 For, they said, “We will not be afraid
of the children of Israel, because, behold,
they are a people that has no power nor
might to make the battle strong.
24 Therefore now we will go up, and they
will be a prey to be devoured by all your
army, Lord Holofernes.”