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 will send his power and wipe them out from off the face of the earth, and God will 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.

6 And when I return, the sword of my army, and the crowd of my servants, shall pass over thy side, and thou shalt fall among their wounded.

7 My servants shall bring thee into the hill country, and leave thee in one of the cities on high places,

8 And thou shalt not die there, until thou shalt be destroyed with them.

9 But if thou trustest in thy heart that they shall not be taken, let not thy countenance be fallen. I have spoken, and not one of my words will be lost.

10 And Holofernes commanded his servants, who were standing in his tent, to take Achior, and to bring him to Bethulia, and to deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.

11 And the servants seized him, and brought him out of the camp into the field, and from the midst of the plain they went up into the hill country, and came to the springs which were under Bethuliah.

12 And when the inhabitants of the city saw them on the top of the mountain, they took up their arms, and went out of the city to the top of the mountain, and all the slingers guarded their rising, and threw stones at them.

13 And they came under the mountain, and bound Achior, and leaving him abandoned at the foot of the mountain, they went to their master.

14 And the children of Israel, having gone out of their own city, stopped over it, and loosed it, and brought it to Bethula, and presented it to the rulers of their city,