Sefarim
Yehudit3
Judith · Chapter 3
So they sent ambassadors unto him to treat of peace, saying,
Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.
Behold, our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents lie before thy face; use them as it pleaseth thee.
Behold, even our cities and the inhabitants thereof are thy servants; come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.
So the men came to Holofernes, and declared unto him after this manner.
Then came he down toward the sea coast, both he and his army, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for aid.
So they and all the country round about received them with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels.
Yet he did cast down their frontiers, and cut down their groves: for he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as elohim.
Also he came over against Esdraelon near unto Judea, over against the great strait of Judea.
And he pitched between Geba and Scythopolis, and there he tarried a whole month, that he might gather together all the carriages of his army.
Sefarim
Yehudit4
Judith · Chapter 4
Now the children of Yisra'el, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought.
Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of him, and were troubled for Yerushalayim, and for the heikhal of the master their Elohim:
For they were newly returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea were lately gathered together: and the vessels, and the altar, and the house, were sanctified after the profanation.
Therefore they sent into all the coasts of Samaria, and the villages and to Bethoron, and Belmen, and Yericho, and to Choba, and Esora, and to the valley of Salem:
And possessed themselves beforehand of all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages that were in them, and laid up victuals for the provision of war: for their fields were of late reaped.
Also Joacim the high kohen, which was in those days in Yerushalayim, wrote to them that dwelt in Bethulia, and Betomestham, which is over against Esdraelon toward the open country, near to Dothaim,
Charging them to keep the passages of the hill country: for by them there was an entrance into Judea, and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was straight, for two men at the most.
And the children of Yisra'el did as Joacim the high kohen had commanded them, with the ancients of all the people of Yisra'el, which dwelt at Yerushalayim.
Then every man of Yisra'el cried to Elohim with great fervency, and with great vehemency did they humble their souls:
Both they, and their wives and their children, and their cattle, and every stranger and hireling, and their servants bought with money, put sackcloth upon their loins.
Thus every man and women, and the little children, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, fell before the heikhal, and cast ashes upon their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the face of the master: also they put sackcloth about the altar,
And cried to the Elohim of Yisra'el all with one consent earnestly, that he would not give their children for a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to profanation and reproach, and for the nations to rejoice at.
So Elohim heard their prayers, and looked upon their afflictions: for the people fasted many days in all Judea and Yerushalayim before the sanctuary of the master Almighty.
And Joacim the high kohen, and all the kohanim that stood before the master, and they which ministered unto the master, had their loins girt with sackcloth, and offered the daily burnt offerings, with the vows and free gifts of the people,
And had ashes on their mitres, and cried unto the master with all their power, that he would look upon all the house of Yisra'el graciously.
Sefarim
Yehudit5
Judith · Chapter 5
Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, that the children of Yisra'el 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 Elohim of shamayim, the Elohim 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 Elohim 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 Mitsrayim, 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 Mitsrayim 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 Elohim, and he smote all the land of Mitsrayim with incurable plagues: so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.
And Elohim 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 Yarden 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 Elohim, they prospered, because the Elohim 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 heikhal of their Elohim was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies.
But now are they returned to their Elohim, and are come up from the places where they were scattered, and have possessed Yerushalayim, 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 Elohim, 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 master defend them, and their Elohim 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 Yisra'el: 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.