Judith · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Judith 5 Revised Version with Apocrypha
1 And it was told Holofernes, the chief captain of the host of Asshur, 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 plains:
1 Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Asshur, was told that the children of Israel had prepared for war, had shut up the passages of the hill country, had fortified all the tops of the high hills, and had set up barricades in the plains.
2 and he was exceeding wroth, and he called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,
2 Then he was exceedingly angry, and he called all the princes of Moab, the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,
3 and he said unto them, Tell me now, ye sons of Canaan, who is this people, that dwelleth in the hill country, and what are the cities that they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their host, and wherein is their power and their strength, and what king is set over them, to be the leader of their army;
3 and he said to them, “Tell me now, you sons of Canaan, who are these people who dwell in the hill country? What are the cities that they inhabit? How large is their army? Where is their power and their strength? What king is set over them, to be the leader of their army?
4 and why have they turned their backs, that they should not come and meet me, more than all that dwell in the west.
4 Why have they turned their backs, that they should not come and meet me, more than all who dwell in the west?”
5 And Achior, the leader of all the children of Ammon, said unto him, Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of thy servant, and I will tell thee the truth concerning this people, which dwelleth in this hill country, nigh unto the place where thou dwellest: and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant.
5 Then Achior, the leader of all the children of Ammon, said to him, “Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth concerning these people who dwell in this hill country, near to the place where you dwell. No lie will come out of the mouth of your servant.
6 This people are descended of the Chaldeans:
6 These people are descended from the Chaldeans.
7 and they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they were not minded to follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of the Chaldeans.
7 They sojourned before this in Mesopotamia, because they didn’t want to follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of the Chaldeans.
8 And they departed from the way of their parents, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: and they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.
8 They departed from the way of their parents, and worshiped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew. Their parents cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia and sojourned there many days.
9 And their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Canaan: and they dwelt there, and were increased with gold and silver, and with exceeding much cattle.
9 Then their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Canaan. They lived there, and prospered with gold and silver, and with exceedingly much cattle.
10 And they went down into Egypt, for a famine covered all the land of Canaan; and there they sojourned, until they were grown up; and they became there a great multitude, so that one could not number their nation.
10 Then they went down into Egypt, for a famine covered all the land of Canaan. They sojourned there until they had grown up. They became a great multitude there, so that one could not count the population of their nation.
11 And the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtilly with them, and brought them low, making them to labour in brick, and made them slaves.
11 Then the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtly with them, and brought them low, making them labor in brick, and made them slaves.
12 And they cried unto their God, and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: and the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.
12 They cried to their God, and he struck all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues; so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.
13 And God dried up the Red sea before them,
13 God dried up the Red sea before them,
14 and brought them into the way of Sinai, and Kadesh-Barnea, and they cast out all that dwelt in the wilderness.
14 and brought them into the way of Sinai Kadesh-Barnea and they cast out all that lived in the wilderness.
15 And they dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Heshbon, and passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.
15 They lived in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength everyone in Heshbon. Passing over Jordan, they possessed all the hill country.
16 And they cast out before them the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Shechemite, and all the Girgashites, and they dwelt in that country many days.
16 They cast out before them the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Shechemite, and all the Girgashites, and they lived in that country many days.
17 And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because God that hateth iniquity was with them.
17 And while they didn’t sin before their God, they prospered, because God who hates iniquity was with them.
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 theirs, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by their adversaries.
18 But when they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many severe battles, and were led captives into a land that was not theirs. The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their cities were taken by their adversaries.
19 And now they are returned to their God, and are come up from the dispersion where they were dispersed, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country: for it was desolate.
19 And now they have returned to their God, and have come up from the dispersion where they were dispersed, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are settled in the hill country; for it was desolate.
20 And now, my lord and master, if there is any error in this people, and they sin against their God, we will consider what this thing is wherein they stumble, and we will go up and overcome them.
20 And now, my lord and master, if there is any error in this people, and they sin against their God, we will find out what this thing is in which they stumble, and we will go up and overcome them.
21 But if there is no lawlessness in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we shall be a reproach before all the earth.
21 But if there is no lawlessness in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we will be a reproach before all the earth.”
22 And it came to pass, when Achior had finished speaking these words, all the people that compassed the tent and stood round about it murmured; and the great men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should kill him.
22 It came to pass, when Achior had finished speaking these words, all the people standing around the tent complained. The great men of Holofernes, and all who lived by the sea side and in Moab, said that he should be cut to pieces.
23 For[, said they, ]we will not be afraid of the children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that hath no power nor might to make the battle strong.
23 For, they said, “We will not be afraid of the children of Israel, because, behold, they are a people that has no power nor might to make the battle strong.
24 Wherefore now we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army, lord Holofernes.
24 Therefore now we will go up, and they will be a prey to be devoured by all your army, Lord Holofernes.”
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And their God said to them, that they should depart from their habitation, and go into the land of Canaan; and they dwelt," etc., as Achior the Ammonite narrates.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)