15
So they dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Heshbon and, passing over the Jordan, they possessed all the hill country.
16
And they cast forth before them the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Shechemite, and all the Gergesites; and they dwelt in that country many days.
17
"And whilst they sinned not before their God they prospered, because the God who hateth 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 the enemies.
19
But now have they returned to their God, and have come up from the places where they were scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem where their sanctuary is, and are settled in the hill country, for it was desolate.
20
Now therefore, my lord and governor, if there be any error in this people, and they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin; and let us go up, and we shall overcome them.
21
But if there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world."
22
And when Achior had finished these sayings, all the people standing round about the tent murmured, and the chief men of Holofernes, and all who dwelt by the seaside and in Moab, spoke that he should kill him.
23
"For," say they, "we will not be afraid of the face of the children of Israel; for lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power for a strong battle.
24
Now therefore, Lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured by all thine army."