Judith, 5

1. Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army, received the intelligence that the Israelites were preparing for war, that they had closed the mountain passes, fortified all the high peaks and laid obstructions in the plains.

1. When Holofernes, the general of the Assyrian army, heard that the people of Israel had prepared for war and had closed the passes in the hills and fortified all the high hilltops and set up barricades in the plains,

2. Holofernes was furious. He summoned all the princes of Moab, all the generals of Ammon and all the satraps of the coastal regions.

2. he was very angry. So he called together all the princes of Moab and the commanders of Ammon and all the governors of the coastland,

3. 'Men of Canaan,' he said, 'tell me: what people is this that occupies the hill-country? What towns does it inhabit? How large is its army? What are the sources of its power and strength? Who is the king who rules it and commands its army?

3. and said to them, "Tell me, you Canaanites, what people is this that lives in the hill country? What cities do they inhabit? How large is their army, and in what does their power or strength consist? Who rules over them as king, leading their army?

4. Why have they disdained to wait on me, as all the western peoples have?'

4. And why have they alone, of all who live in the west, refused to come out and meet me?"

5. Achior, leader of all the Ammonites, replied, 'May my lord be pleased to listen to what your servant is going to say. I shall give you the facts about these mountain folk whose home lies close to you. You will hear no lie from the mouth of your servant.

5. Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites, said to him, "Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth about this people that dwells in the nearby mountain district. No falsehood shall come from your servant's mouth.

6. These people are descended from the Chaldaeans.

6. This people is descended from the Chaldeans.

7. They once came to live in Mesopotamia, because they did not want to follow the gods of their ancestors who lived in Chaldaea.

7. At one time they lived in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers who were in Chaldea.

8. They abandoned the way of their ancestors to worship the God of heaven, the God they learnt to acknowledge. Banished from the presence of their own gods, they fled to Mesopotamia where they lived for a long time.

8. For they had left the ways of their ancestors, and they worshiped the God of heaven, the God they had come to know; hence they drove them out from the presence of their gods; and they fled to Mesopotamia, and lived there for a long time.

9. When God told them to leave their home and set out for Canaan, they settled there and accumulated gold and silver and great herds of cattle.

9. Then their God commanded them to leave the place where they were living and go to the land of Canaan. There they settled, and prospered, with much gold and silver and very many cattle.

10. Next, famine having overwhelmed the land of Canaan, they went down to Egypt where they stayed till they were well nourished. There they became a great multitude, a race beyond counting.

10. When a famine spread over Canaan they went down to Egypt and lived there as long as they had food; and there they became a great multitude -- so great that they could not be counted.

11. But the king of Egypt turned against them and exploited them by forcing them to make bricks; he degraded them, reducing them to slavery.

11. So the king of Egypt became hostile to them; he took advantage of them and set them to making bricks, and humbled them and made slaves of them.

12. They cried to their God, who struck the entire land of Egypt with incurable plagues, and the Egyptians expelled them.

12. Then they cried out to their God, and he afflicted the whole land of Egypt with incurable plagues; and so the Egyptians drove them out of their sight.

13. God dried up the Red Sea before them

13. Then God dried up the Red Sea before them,

14. and led them forward by way of Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea. Having driven off all the inhabitants of the desert,

14. and he led them by the way of Sinai and Kadesh-barnea, and drove out all the people of the wilderness.

15. they settled in the land of the Amorites and in their strength exterminated the entire population of Heshbon. Then, having crossed the Jordan, they took possession of all the hill-country,

15. So they lived in the land of the Amorites, and by their might destroyed all the inhabitants of Heshbon; and crossing over the Jordan they took possession of all the hill country.

16. driving out the Canaanites before them and the Perizzites, Jebusites, Shechemites and all the Girgashites, and lived there for many years.

16. And they drove out before them the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Jebusites and the Shechemites and all the Gergesites, and lived there a long time.

17. All the while they did not sin before their God, prosperity was theirs, for they have a God who hates wickedness.

17. As long as they did not sin against their God they prospered, for the God who hates iniquity is with them.

18. But when they turned from the path he had marked out for them some were exterminated in a series of battles, others were taken captive to a foreign land. The Temple of their God was rased to the ground and their towns were seized by their enemies.

18. But when they departed from the way which he had appointed for them, they were utterly defeated in many battles and were led away captive to a foreign country; the temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their cities were captured by their enemies.

19. Then having turned once again to their God, they came back from the places to which they had been dispersed and scattered, regained possession of Jerusalem, where they have their Temple, and reoccupied the hill-country which had been left deserted.

19. But now they have returned to their God, and have come back from the places to which they were scattered, and have occupied Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and have settled in the hill country, because it was uninhabited.

20. So, now, master and lord, if this people has committed any fault, if they have sinned against their God, let us first be sure that they really have this reason to fail, then advance and attack them.

20. Now therefore, my master and lord, if there is any unwitting error in this people and they sin against their God and we find out their offense, then we will go up and defeat them.

21. But if their nation is guiltless, my lord would do better to abstain, for fear that their Lord and God should protect them. We should then become the laughing-stock of the whole world.'

21. But if there is no transgression in their nation, then let my lord pass them by; for their Lord will defend them, and their God will protect them, and we shall be put to shame before the whole world."

22. When Achior had ended this speech, all the people crowding round the tent began protesting. Holofernes' own senior officers, as well as all the coastal peoples and the Moabites, threatened to tear him limb from limb.

22. When Achior had finished saying this, all the men standing around the tent began to complain; Holofernes' officers and all the men from the seacoast and from Moab insisted that he must be put to death.

23. 'Why should we be afraid of the Israelites? They are a weak and powerless people, quite unable to stand a stiff attack.

23. "For," they said, "we will not be afraid of the Israelites; they are a people with no strength or power for making war.

24. Forward! Advance! Your army, Holofernes our master, will swallow them in one mouthful!'

24. Therefore let us go up, Lord Holofernes, and they will be devoured by your vast army."