17 And until they sinned against their God, happiness was with them, because God is with them, who hates unrighteousness.

18 But when they deviated from the way which he had bequeathed to them, they suffered very great defeats in many wars, and were taken captive into a foreign land, and the temple of their God was destroyed, and their cities were taken by the enemy.

19 But now, having turned to their God, they have returned from the dispersion in which they were, and have taken possession of Jerusalem, in which their sanctuary is, and have settled in the hill country, because it was desolate.

20 And now, lord lord, if there is a mistake in this people, and they sin against their God, and we notice that they have this stumbling, then we will go and overcome them.

21 And if there is no iniquity in this people, let my lord depart, lest the Lord protect them, and their God be for them, and then we shall be an object of reproach to all the earth.

22 And when Achior had finished this speech, all the people who were standing round about the tent murmured, and the nobles of Holofernes, and all who inhabited the seaside and the land of Moab, began to speak, 'Immediately he must be slain;

23 for we will not fear the children of Israel: they are a people who have neither army nor strength to make a strong army.

24 Come, therefore, lord Holofernes, and they shall become the prey of all thy army.

6

1 And when the uproar about the assembly had ceased, Holofernes, the captain of the Assyrian army, said to Achior before all the foreign people, and to all the children of Moab,

2 Who art thou, Achior, with the hirelings of Ephraim, that thou hast prophesied to us this day, and said that we should not make war against the people of Israel, because God protects them? Who is God if not Nebuchadnezzar? He shall send forth his power, and shall wipe them out from off the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them.

3 But we, his servants, will smite them as one man, and they will not be able to stand against the strength of our horses.

4 We will trample them; Their mountains will be drunk with their blood, their plains will be filled with their carcasses, and their feet will not be against our face, but they will perish in destruction, says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of all the earth. For he has spoken, and the words of his commandments will not be in vain.

5 And thou, Achior, the hireling of Ammon, who spokest these words in the day of thy iniquity, from this day shalt thou see my face no more, until I have avenged this people that came out of Egypt.