Bible ~~- Apocrypha ~~- Judith ~~- chapter 5 of 16 (24 verses.)

Judith 5Wrench

BACK NEXT
Israel Prepares To Defend Against Invasion
1 [Meanhwhile, 600 miles west of Iraq,] the sons of Israel prepare for invasion. They blockade their hill country passages. They fortify all the tops of their high hills. They lay [road-blocking] impediments in the open countryside. [Assyrian] spies report Israel's defense preparations to Assyrian army General Holofernes.
2 [Israel's war preparations] drive Holofernes into a fury. He summons all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the [city-states] on the [Mediterranean] sea coast, to a war-council.
3 Holofernes says to these [Mid-East leaders], β€œTell me now, you sons of Canaan, who are these people infesting [Israel's] hill country? What cities do they inhabit? How big is their army? What gives them power and strength? What king rules over them? Who's the chief of their army?
4 Why have these [Hebrews], more than all the inhabitants west [of Iraq], determined to avoid meeting me [to beg me not to obliterate them]?
5 Achior, the Ammonite War-Chief, answers [General Holofornes], β€œLet my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant: I will declare to you the truth concerning the [Israeli] people, who dwell near you, inhabits the hill countries. No lie will come out of the mouth of [me,] your servant.
6 The [Hebrew] nation descended from the Chaldean [Babylonians].
An untrue attempt to justify Babylonian jurisdiction over Israel.
7 The ancient Hebrews wandered [as nomads] around Mesopotamia. Because the Hebrews would not follow the gods & leaders of the Chaldeans' forefathers, in Babylonian territory.
8 For the Hebrews left the way of their [pagan] ancestors. They worshiped [YHVH] the Elohim of heaven, the Elohim whom they knew. So the Chaldeans cast the Hebrews out from the face of the Chaldeans' gods [and leaders]. So the Hebrews fled into Mesopotamia, and wandered there for many days.
Falsehood mixed with truth.
9 Then [YHVH] the Hebrews’ Elohim commanded the [Hebrews] to depart from the place where they had wandered, and to enter the land of Canaan [surrounding Jerusalem]. There the Hebrews dwelt. They amassed gold and silver, and [millions] of cattle.
10 But then a famine fell. It covered all the land of Canaan, The Hebrews traveled down into Egypt, and camped there. They drew nourishment [from Egypt's farmland]. They grew there into a great multitude, a population beyond counting.
11 So the king of Egypt rose up against the Hebrews. He dealt shrewdly with them. He brought them low. He made the Hebrews his slaves, laboring in brick.
12 Then the Hebrews cried to [YHVH] their Elohim. So he struck the whole land of Egypt with incurable plagues. So the Egyptians cast the Hebrews out of their sight.
13 [YHVH] Elohim dried the Red Sea before the [emigrating] Hebrews.
14 [YHVH] brought the Hebrews to mount Sinai, and Kadesh-Barnea {Wilderness-Of-Wandering}. He cast forth all the surviving [Israelites] into the wilderness [for 40 years].
15 So the Hebrews journeyed through the land of the Amorite {Mountaineers}. The Hebrews, by their strength, destroyed all the [pagans] of Heshbon. Passing over [the] Jordan [river,] the Hebrews took possession of all the [now Judean] hill country.
16 And the Hebrews cast forth before them the Canaanites, the Perezites, the Jebusites, and the Sychemites, and all the Gergesites. So the Hebrews dwelt in that country for many [decades].
17 As long as the Hebrews avoided sinning before [YHVH] their Elohim, they prospered. [YHVH, the] Elohim who hates evil, stuck with them.
18 But when the Hebrews left the [moral] way which [YHVH had] mapped out for them, they were destroyed in many disastrous battles. Their [enemies] led them as captives into foreign land[s]. The temple of [YHVH] their Elohim was cast to the ground. Their cities were taken by their enemies.
19 But now the Hebrews have returned to [YHVH] their Elohim. They've emigrated back from the [pagan] places where they were scattered. They've possessed Jerusalem, the site of their previously desolate sanctuary seated in the hill country.
20 So now, my lord and governor [Holofornes], let's assume that the [Israelis] are chargeable for [some] crime. Probably they've sinned against [YHVH] their Elohim. So let's acknowledge that their [sins] will be their ruin. Let's [march] up [to fight them]. We'll overcome them.
21 But if there is no evil in the [Hebrew] nation, let [you] my lord now pass [them] by. Because if [YHVH] their Adonai defends the [Hebrews], if their Elohim [fights] for them, we [Hebrews] will be the laughing-stock of the entire world.
22 [Ammonite General] Achior finishes his speech. All the [warlords] standing around the tent murmur. Holofernes' [Assyrian] chiefs of staff, and the [Generals] from the Mediterranean coastlands, and the Moabite [generals], voted that Holofernes should kill [General] Achior [for implying that YHVH could defend Israel from Babylonian attack].
23 The [anti-Israel Generals all say,] β€œWe won't shrink shaking from the face of any son of Israel! Look: Israel is a nation devoid of strength. They lack the power to wage [even] one strong battle.
24 So now, lord Holofernes, let's march up [to attack Israel]. The Hebrews will be prey devoured by all your soldiers.”
BACK NEXT