Jdt 5:1 

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: 

Jdt 5:2 

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, 

Jdt 5:3 

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; 

Jdt 5:4 

And why have they determined not to come and meet me, more 

than all the inhabitants of the west. 

Jdt 5:5 

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. 

Jdt 5:6 

This people are descended of the Chaldeans: 

Jdt 5:7 

And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they 

would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the 

land of Chaldea. 

Jdt 5:8 

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. 

Jdt 5:9 

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. 

Jdt 5:10 

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. 

Jdt 5:11 

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. 

Jdt 5:12 

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. 

Jdt 5:13 

And God dried the Red sea before them, 

Jdt 5:14 

And brought them to mount Sina, and Cades-Barne, and cast 

forth all that dwelt in the wilderness. 

Jdt 5:15 

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. 

Jdt 5:16 

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. 

Jdt 5:17 

And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, 

because the God that hateth iniquity was with them. 

Jdt 5:18 

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. 

Jdt 5:19 

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. 

Jdt 5:20 

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. 

Jdt 5:21 

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. 

Jdt 5:22 

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. 

Jdt 5:23 

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 

Jdt 5:24 

Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall 

be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.