الإصحَاحُ
الْخَامِسُ

Chapter 5

 

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 against 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.