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1 And it was told Holofernes
the general of the army of the Assyrians, that the children of Israel
prepared themselves to resist, and had shut up the ways of the mountains.
2 And he was transported with exceeding great
fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders
of Amman.
3 And he said to them: Tell me what is this
people that besetteth the mountains: or what are
their cities, and of what sort, and how great: also what is their power, or
what is their multitude: or who is the king over their warfare:
4 And why they above all that dwell in the
east, have despised us, and have not come out to meet us, that they might
receive us with peace?
5 Then Achior
captain of all the children of Ammon answering,
said: If thou vouch safe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy
sight concerning this people, that dwelleth in the
mountains, and there shall not a false word come out of my mouth.
6 This people is of the offspring of the
Chaldeans.
7 They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because
they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the
Chaldeans.
8 Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their
fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods,
9 They worshipped one God of heaven, who
also commanded them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there was a famine over all the land,
they went down into Egypt, and there for four hundred years were so
multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered.
10 And when the king of Egypt oppressed them,
and made slaves of them to labour in clay and
brick, in the building of his cities, they cried to their Lord, and he struck
the whole land of Egypt with divers plagues.
11 And when the Egyptians had cast them out
from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take
them again, and bring them back to their service,
12 The God of heaven opened the sea to them
in their flight, so that the waters were made to stand firm as a wall on
either side, and they walked through the bottom of the sea and passed it dry
foot.
13 And when an innumerable army of the
Egyptians pursued after them in that place, they were so overwhelmed with the
waters, that there was not one left, to tell what had happened to posterity.
14 And after they came out of the Red Sea,
they abode in the deserts of mount Sina, in which
never man could dwell, or son of man rested.
15 There bitter fountains were made sweet for
them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven.
16 Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and
without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.
17 And there was no one that triumphed over
this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.
18 But as often as beside their own God, they
worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to
reproach.
19 And as often as they were penitent for
having revolted from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them
power to resist.
20 So they overthrew the king of the Chanaanites, and of the Jebusites,
and of the Pherezites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites,
and of the Amorrhites, and all the mighty ones in Hesebon, and they possessed their lands, and their cities:
21 And as long as they sinned not in the
sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth
iniquity.
22 And even some years ago when they had
revolted from the way which God had given them to walk therein, they were
destroyed in battles by many nations, and very many of them were led away
captive into a strange land.
23 But of late returning to the Lord their
God, from the different places wherein they were scattered, they are come
together and are gone up into all these mountains, and possess Jerusalem
again, where their holies are
24 Now therefore, my lord, search if there
be any iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God: let us go up to them,
because their God will surely deliver them to thee, and they shall be brought
under the yoke of thy power:
25 But if there be no offense of this
people in the sight of their God, we can not resist
them, because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the
whole earth.
26 And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men
of Holofernes were angry, and they had a mind to
kill him, saying to each other:
27 Who is this, that saith
the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor,
and his armies, men unarmed, and without force, and without skill in the art
of war?
28 That Achior
therefore may know that he deceiveth us, let us go
up into the mountains: and when the bravest of them shall be taken, then
shall he with them be stabbed with the sword:
29 That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there
is no other.
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1- و اخبر اليفانا رئيس جيش
الاشوريين ان بني اسرائيل قد تاهبوا للمدافعة و انهم قد سدوا طرق الجبال.
2- فاستشاط اليفانا غضبا في شدة حنقه و دعا
جميع رؤساء مواب و قواد عمون.
3- و قال لهم قولوا لي من اولئك الشعب الذين
ضبطوا الجبال و ما مدنهم و كيف هي و ما قوتها و ما قدرتهم و كثرتهم و من قائد
جيشهم.
4- و كيف استخفوا بنا دون جميع سكان المشرق و
لم يخرجوا لاستقبالنا ليتلقونا بالسلم.
5- فاجابه احيور قائد جميع بني عمون قائلا ان
تنازلت فسمعت لي يا سيدي اقول الحق بين يديك في امر اولئك الشعب المقيمين
بالجبال و لا تخرج لفظة كاذبة من فمي.
6- ان اولئك الشعب هم من نسل الكلدانيين.
7- و كان اول مقامهم فيما بين
النهرين لانهم ابوا اتباع الهة ابائهم المقيمين بارض الكلدانيين.
8- فتركوا سنن ابائهم التي كانت لالهة كثيرة.
9- و سجدوا لاله السماء الواحد و هو امرهم ان
يخرجوا من هناك و يسكنوا في حاران فلما عم الجوع الارض كلها هبطوا الى مصر و
تكاثروا هناك مدة اربع مئة سنة حتى كان جيشهم لا يحصى.
10- و اذ كان ملك مصر يعنتهم بالاثقال و
يستعبدهم في بناء مدنه بالطين و اللبن صرخوا الى ربهم فضرب جميع ارض مصر ضربات
مختلفة.
11- و بعد ان طردهم المصريون من ارضهم و كفت
الضربة عنهم ارادوا امساكهم ليردوهم الى عبوديتهم.
12- و فيما هم هاربون فلق لهم اله السماء
البحر و جمدت المياه من الجانبين فعبروا على حضيض البحر على اليبس.
13- و تعقبهم هناك جيش المصريين بلا عدد
فغمرتهم المياه حتى لم يبق منهم احد يخبر اعقابهم.
14- فخرجوا من البحر الاحمر و نزلوا برية جبل
سيناء حيث لم يكن يقدر ان يسكن انسان و لا يستريح ابن بشر.
15- و هناك حولت لهم ينابيع
المياه المرة عذبة ليشربوا و رزقوا طعاما من السماء مدة اربعين سنة.
16- و حيثما دخلوا بلا قوس و لا
سهم و لا ترس و لا سيف قاتل الههم عنهم و ظفر.
17- و لم يكن من يستهين بهؤلاء الشعب الا اذا
تركوا عبادة الرب الههم.
18- فكانوا كلما عبدوا غير الههم اسلموا
للغنيمة و السيف و العار.
19- و كلما تابوا عن تركهم عبادة الههم اتاهم
اله السماء قوة للمدافعة.
20- فكسروا امامهم ملوك الكنعانيين و
اليبوسيين و الفرزيين و الحثيين و الحويين و الاموريين و جميع الجبابرة الذين في
حشبون و استحوذوا على اراضيهم و مدائنهم.
21- و كانوا ما داموا لا يخطاون امام الههم
يصيبهم خير لان الههم يبغض الاثم.
22- فلما ان حادوا قبل هذه السنين عن الطريق
التي امرهم الله ان يسلكوها انكسروا في الحروب امام شعوب كثيرة و جلي كثيرون
منهم الى ارض غير ارضهم.
23- غير انهم من عهد قريب قد تابوا الى الرب
الههم و اجتمعوا من شتاتهم حيث تبددوا و صعدوا الى هذه الجبال كلها و عادوا
فتملكوا في اورشليم حيث اقداسهم.
24- و الان يا سيدي انظر فان كان لاولئك الشعب
اثم امام الههم فلنصعد اليهم لان الههم يسلمهم اليك و يستعبدون تحت نير سلطانك.
25- و ان لم يكن لاولئك الشعب اثم امام الههم
فلا طاقة لنا بهم لان الههم يدافع عنهم فنكون عارا على جميع وجه الارض.
26- فلما فرغ احيور من هذا الكلام غضب جميع
عظماء اليفانا و هموا بقتله قائلين بعضهم لبعض.
27- من يقول ان لبني اسرائيل طاقة بمقاومة
الملك نبوكد نصر و جيوشه و هم قوم لا سلاح لهم و لا قوة و لا لهم خبرة في امر
الحرب.
28- فلكي يعلم احيور انه انما يخادعنا نصعد
الان الى الجبال و اذا اخذ جبابرتهم فحينئذ نجعله موردا للسيف ايضا معهم.
29- حتى تعلم كل امة ان نبوكد نصر هو اله
الارض و لا اله غيره
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