Judith 5

¹And it was teld to Holofernes, prince of the chiualrie of Assiriens, that the children of Israel maden redi hem silf to ayenstonde, and that thei hadden closid togidere the weies of hillis.

²And bi ouer greet woodnesse he brente out in to greet wrathfulnesse; and he clepide alle the princes of Moab, and the duykis of Amon,

³and seide to hem, Seie ye to me, who this puple is, that bisegith the hilli places; ethir whiche, and what maner, and hou grete ben her citees; also what is the vertu of hem, ether what is the multitude of hem, ethir who is the kyng of her chyualrie;

⁴and whi bifor alle men, that dwellen in the eest, han these men dispisid me, and thei han not go out to resseyue vs with pees?

⁵Than Achior, duyk of alle the sones of Amon, answerde and seide, My lord, if thou vouchist saaf to here, Y schal seie treuthe in thi siyt of this puple that dwellith in the hilli places, and a fals word schal not go out of my mouth.

⁶This puple is of the generacioun of Caldeis;

⁷this puple dwellide firste in Mesopotanye; for thei nolden sue the goddis of her fadris, that weren in the lond of Caldeis.

⁸Therfor thei forsoken the cerymonyes of her fadris, that weren with the multitude of goddis,

⁹and worschipiden o God of heuene, which also comaundide to hem to go out fro thennus, and to dwelle in Carram. And whanne hungur hadde hilid al the lond, thei yeden doun in to Egipt, and there thei weren so multiplied bi foure hundrid yeer, that the oost of hem myyte not be noumbrid.

¹⁰And whanne the kyng of Egipt hadde greuyd hem, and hadde maad hem sugetis in the bildyngis of hise citees in cley and tijl stoon, thei crieden to her God, and he smoot al the lond of Egipt with dyuerse veniaunces.

¹¹And whanne Egipcians hadden castid out `hem fro hem silf, and the veniaunce hadde ceessid fro hem, and efte wolden take hem, and ayen clepe to her seruyce,

¹²God of heuene openyde the see to these men fleynge, so that on this side and that side the watris weren maad sad as wallis, and these men with dry foot passiden `in walkynge bi the depthe of the see.

¹³In which place the while vnnoumbrable oost of Egipcians pursuede hem, it was so kyueryd with watris, that there dwellide not nameli oon, that schulde telle the dede to aftir comeris.

¹⁴Also thei yeden out of the Reed See, and ocupieden the desertis of the hil Sina, in whiche `neuere man myyte dwelle, nethir the sone of man restyde.

¹⁵There bittir wellis weren maad swete to hem for to drynke; and bi fourti yeer thei gaten lyuelode fro heuene.

¹⁶Where euere thei entriden, her God fauyt for hem, and ouer cam with out bouwe and arowe, and without scheld and swerd.

¹⁷And `noon was that castide doun this puple, no but whanne it yede awey fro the worschipyng of her Lord God.

¹⁸Sotheli as ofte euere as thei worschipiden an other outakun thilke her God, thei weren youun in to preye, and in to swerd, and in to schenschip.

¹⁹But as ofte euere as thei repentiden that thei hadden go awei fro the worschipyng of her God, God of heuene yaf to hem vertue to ayenstonde.

²⁰Forsothe thei castiden doun the kyng Cananei, and Jebusei, and Pheresei, and Ethei, and Euey, and Ammorrei, and alle the myyti men of Esebon, and thei hadden in possessioun the londis of hem, and the citees of hem;

²¹and til that thei hadden synned in the siyt of her God, good thingis weren with hem, for the God of hem hatith wickidnesse.

²²For whi and bifor these yeeris, whanne thei hadden go awei fro the weie which God hadde youe to hem, that thei schulden go ther ynne, thei weren distried of naciouns bi many batels, and ful many of hem weren led prisoneris in to a lond not hern.

²³Forsothe a while agoon thei turneden ayen to `her Lord God, and weren gaderid togidere fro the scateryng, in which thei weren scaterid; and thei stieden in to alle these hilli places, and eft thei han Jerusalem in possessioun, where the hooli of hooli thingis ben.

²⁴Now therfor, my lord, enquere thou perfitli, if ony wickidnesse of hem is in the siyt of her God, and stie we to hem; for her God bitakynge schal bitake hem to thee, and thei schulen be maad suget vndur the yok of thi myyt.

²⁵Trewli if noon offense of this puple is bifor her God, we moun not ayenstonde hem; for the God of hem schal defende hem, and we schulen be in to schenschip to al erthe.

²⁶And it was doon, whanne Achior hadde ceessid to speke these wordis, alle the grete men of Holofernes weren wrothe, and thei thouyten to sle hym,

²⁷and seiden togidere, Who is this that seith, that the sones of Israel, men with outen armure, and with out vertu, and with out kunnyng of the craft of fiytynge, moun ayenstonde kyng Nabugodonosor and hise oostis?

²⁸Therfor that Achior knowe, that he disseyueth vs, stie we in to the hilli places; and whanne the myyti men of hem ben takun, thanne he schal be persid with swerd with the same men;

²⁹`that ech folk knowe, that Nabugodonosor is god of erthe, and outakun hym `noon other is.

Judith 5

¹Then 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:

²Wherewith he was very angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,

³And 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;

⁴And why have they determined not to come and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of the west.

⁵Then 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.

⁶This people are descended of the Chaldeans:

⁷And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldea.

⁸For 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.

⁹Then 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.

¹⁰But 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.

¹¹Therefore 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.

¹²Then 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.

¹³And God dried the Red sea before them,

¹⁴And brought them to mount Sina, and Cades-Barne, and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness.

¹⁵So 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.

¹⁸But 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.

¹⁹But 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.

²⁰Now 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.

²¹But 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.

²²And 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.

²³For, 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

²⁴Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.