1
The Israelites living in Judea heard about everything that Holofernes the general of King Nebuchadnezzar, of the Assyrians, had done to all the other nations and how he had looted and destroyed all of their temples.
2
They were especially terrified of his coming and were anxious about the safety of Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord their God.
3
They had just recently returned from captivity in exile. All the people of Judea had only just gathered together again, and the temple together with its altar and equipment had been newly dedicated to God after being polluted.
4
They sent word, therefore, to all the regions of Samaria and to Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, Jericho, and to Choba, Aesora, and the Salem Valley.
5
Preparing for war, they occupied all the high hilltops, reinforced the villages on them, and stockpiled the food recently harvested from their fields.