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.
1 nuntiatumque est Holoferni principi militiae Assyriorum
quod filii Israhel praepararent se ad resistendum
ac montium itinera conclusissent
2 et furore nimio exarsit iracundia magna
vocavitque omnes principes Moab et duces Ammon
3 et dixit eis
dicite mihi quid sit populus iste qui montana
obsidet
aut quae et quales et quantae sint civitates eorum
quae etiam sit virtus eorum aut quae sit multitudo eorum
vel quis rex militiae illorum
4 quare prae omnibus qui habitant in oriente
isti contempserunt
et non exierunt in obviam nobis ut susciperent nos cum pace
5 tunc Achior dux omnium filiorum Ammon respondens ait
si digneris audire domine meus
dicam veritatem in conspectu tuo
de populo isto qui in montanis habitat
et non egredietur verbum falsum ex ore meo
6 populus iste ex progenie Chaldeorum est
7 hic primum in Mesopotamiam habitavit
quoniam noluerunt sequi deos patrum suorum
qui erant in terra Chaldeorum
8 deserentes itaque caerimonias patrum suorum
quae in multitudine deorum erant
9 unum Deum caeli coluerunt
qui et praecepit eis ut exirent inde et habitarent in Charam
cumque cooperuisset omnem terram fames
descenderunt in Aegyptum
illicque per quadringentos annos sic multiplicati sunt
ut dinumerari eorum non possit exercitus
10 cumque gravaret eos rex Aegypti
atque in aedificationibus urbium suarum
in luto et latere subiugasset eos
clamaverunt ad Deum suum
et percussit totam terram Aegypti plagis variis
11 cumque eiecissent eos a se Aegyptii et cessasset plaga
ab eis
et iterum eos vellent capere et ad suum servitium revocare
12 fugientibus his Deus caeli mare aperuit
ita ut hinc inde aquae quasi murus
solidarentur
et isti pede sicco fundum maris perambulando transirent
13 in quo loco dum innumerabilis exercitus Aegyptiorum eos persequeretur
ita aquis coopertus est ut non remaneret vel unus
qui factum posteris nuntiaret
14 egressis etiam mare Rubrum
deserta Sina montis occurrerunt
in quibus numquam homo habitare potuit
vel filius hominis requievit
15 illic fontes amari obdulcati sunt eis ad bibendum
et per annos quadraginta annonam de caelo consecuti sunt
16 ubicumque ingressi sunt sine arcu et sagitta
et absque scuta et gladio
Deus eorum pro eis pugnavit et vicit
17 et non fuit qui insultaret populo isti
nisi quando recessit a cultura Domini Dei sui
18 quotienscumque autem praeter ipsum Deum suum alterum coluerunt
dati sunt in praedam et in gladium et in obprobrium
19 quotienscumque autem paenituerunt se recessisse a cultura Dei sui
dedit eis Deus caeli virtutem resistendi
20 denique Chananeum regem et Iebuseum et Ferezeum
et Hettheum et Eveum et Amorreum
et omnes potentes in Esebon prostraverunt
et terras eorum et civitates eorum ipsi possederunt
21 et usque dum non peccarent in conspectu Dei sui
erant cum illis bona
Deus enim illorum odit iniquitatem
22 nam et ante hos annos cum recessissent a via
quam dederat illis Deus ut ambularent in eam
exterminati sunt proeliis multis nationibus
et plurimi eorum captivi abducti sunt in terram
non suam
23 nuper autem reversi ad Deum suum
ex dispersione qua dispersi fuerant adunati sunt
et ascenderunt montana haec omnia
et iterum possident Hierusalem ubi sunt sancta eorum
24 nunc ergo meus domine perquire
si est aliqua iniquitas eorum in conspectu Dei eorum
ascendamus ad illos
quoniam tradens tradet illos Deus eorum tibi
et subiugati erunt sub iugo potentiae tuae
25 si autem non est offensio populi huius coram Deo suo
non poterimus resistere illis quoniam Deus eorum defendet illos
et erimus in obprobrium universae terrae
26 et factum est cum cessasset loqui Achior verba
irati sunt omnes magnates Holofernis
et cogitabant interficere eum dicentes ad alterutrum
27 quis iste est
qui filios Israhel posse dicat resistere regi Nabuchodonosor et
exercitibus eius
homines inermes et sine virtute et sine peritia artis pugnae
28 ut ergo agnoscat Achior quoniam fallit nos
ascendemus in montana
et cum capti fuerint potentes eorum
tunc cum eisdem gladio transverberabitur
29 ut sciat omnis gens
quoniam Nabuchodonosor deus terrae est
et praeter ipsum alius non est