Judith 5

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
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:	1 Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army, received the intel igence that the Israelites werepreparing for war, that they had closed the mountain passes, fortified al the high peaks and laid obstructions inthe plains.
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,	2 Holofernes was furious. He summoned al the princes of Moab, al the generals of Ammon and al thesatraps of the coastal regions.
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;	3 'Men of Canaan,' he said, 'tel me: what people is this that occupies the hill-country? What towns does itinhabit? How large is its army? What are the sources of its power and strength? Who is the king who rules it andcommands its army?
4 And why have they determined not to come and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of the west.	4 Why have they disdained to wait on me, as all the western peoples have?'
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.	5 Achior, leader of al the Ammonites, replied, 'May my lord be pleased to listen to what your servant isgoing to say. I shall give you the facts about these mountain folk whose home lies close to you. You wil hear nolie from the mouth of your servant.
6 This people are descended of the Chaldeans:	6 These people are descended from the Chaldaeans.
7 And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldea.	7 They once came to live in Mesopotamia, because they did not want to fol ow the gods of their ancestorswho lived in Chaldaea.
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.	8 They abandoned the way of their ancestors to worship the God of heaven, the God they learnt toacknowledge. Banished from the presence of their own gods, they fled to Mesopotamia where they lived for along time.
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.	9 When God told them to leave their home and set out for Canaan, they settled there and accumulatedgold and silver and great herds of 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.	10 Next, famine having overwhelmed the land of Canaan, they went down to Egypt where they stayed tilthey were well nourished. There they became a great multitude, a race beyond counting.
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.	11 But the king of Egypt turned against them and exploited them by forcing them to make bricks; hedegraded them, reducing them to slavery.
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.	12 They cried to their God, who struck the entire land of Egypt with incurable plagues, and the Egyptiansexpel ed them.
13 And God dried the Red sea before them,	13 God dried up the Red Sea before them
14 And brought them to mount Sina, and Cades-Barne, and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness.	14 and led them forward by way of Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea. Having driven off all the inhabitants of thedesert,
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.	15 they settled in the land of the Amorites and in their strength exterminated the entire population ofHeshbon. Then, having crossed the Jordan, they took possession of al the hil -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.	16 driving out the Canaanites before them and the Perizzites, Jebusites, Shechemites and all theGirgashites, and lived there for many years.
17 And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.	17 Al the while they did not sin before their God, prosperity was theirs, for they have a God who hateswickedness.
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.	18 But when they turned from the path he had marked out for them some were exterminated in a series ofbattles, others were taken captive to a foreign land. The Temple of their God was rased to the ground and theirtowns were seized by their 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.	19 Then having turned once again to their God, they came back from the places to which they had beendispersed and scattered, regained possession of Jerusalem, where they have their Temple, and reoccupied thehil -country which had been left deserted.
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.	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 real y have this reason to fail, then advance and attack 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.	21 But if their nation is guiltless, my lord would do better to abstain, for fear that their Lord and God shouldprotect them. We should then become the laughing-stock of the whole 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.	22 When Achior had ended this speech, all the people crowding round the tent began protesting.Holofernes' own senior officers, as wel as al the coastal peoples and the Moabites, threatened to tear him limbfrom limb.
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	23 'Why should we be afraid of the Israelites? They are a weak and powerless people, quite unable tostand a stiff attack.
24 Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.	24 Forward! Advance! Your army, Holofernes our master, wil swal ow them in one mouthful!'