Judith:5

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* 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 : * 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 , * 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 ; * And why have they determined not to come and meet me , more than all the inhabitants of the west . * 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 . * This people are descended of the Chaldeans : * And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia , because they would not follow the gods of their fathers , which were in the land of Chaldea . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * And God dried the Red sea before them , * And brought them to mount Sina , and Cades-Barne , and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness . * 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 . * 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 . * And whilst they sinned not before their God , they prospered , because the God that hateth iniquity was with them . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 * Now therefore , lord Holofernes , we will go up , and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army .

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