Nuntiatumque est Holoferni principi militiæ Assyriorum, quod filii Israël præpararent se ad resistendum, ac montium itinera conclusissent:

When news reached Holofernes, the Assyrian commander, that the Israelites were for offering resistance, and had secured the mountain passes,

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.

et furore nimio exarsit in iracundia magna, vocavitque omnes principes Moab et duces Ammon,

he broke out into a great fury of indignation. He summoned all the chiefs of Moab and Ammon to his presence;

And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Ammon.

et dixit eis: Dicite mihi quis sit populus iste, qui montana obsidet: aut quæ, et quales, et quantæ sint civitates eorum: quæ etiam sit virtus eorum, aut quæ sit multitudo eorum, vel quis rex militiæ illorum:

What folk are these, he asked, that would hold the mountain-heights? Are their cities so prosperous or so well defended, are they so brave or so numerous, have they a commander so skilled in war,

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:

et quare præ omnibus qui habitant in oriente, isti contempserunt nos, et non exierunt obviam nobis ut susciperent nos cum pace?

that they alone defy us, and will not come out to meet and welcome us, like the other nations around them?

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?

Tunc Achior dux omnium filiorum Ammon respondens, ait: Si digneris audire, domine mi, dicam veritatem in conspectu tuo de populo isto qui in montanis habitat, et non egredietur verbum falsum ex ore meo.

It was Achior, chief paramount of the Ammonites, that answered him. My lord, said he, if thou wilt hear me out, I will tell the whole truth to thy face, about these mountain-folk; never a false word shalt thou hear from me.

Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said: If thou vouchsafe, 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.

Populus iste ex progenie Chaldæorum est.

They come of Chaldaean stock,

This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.

Hic primum in Mesopotamia habitavit, quoniam noluerunt sequi deos patrum suorum, qui erant in terra Chaldæorum.

but they made their abode in Mesopotamia, because they had no mind to worship the old gods of Chaldaea;

They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans.

Deserentes itaque cæremonias patrum suorum, quæ in multitudine deorum erant,

gods a many their fathers’ worship owned, but they forsook it,

Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods,

unum Deum cæli coluerunt, qui et præcepit eis ut exirent inde et habitarent in Charan. Cumque operuisset omnem terram fames, descenderunt in Ægyptum, illicque per quadringentos annos sic multiplicati sunt, ut dinumerari eorum non posset exercitus.

to worship one God only, the God of heaven. He it was bade them remove thence, and dwell in Charan. At a time when famine overspread the world, they took refuge in Egypt; and there, when four hundred years had passed, they had grown so numerous that there was no counting the muster of them.

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.

Cumque gravaret eos rex Ægypti, atque in ædificationibus urbium suarum in luto et latere subjugasset eos, clamaverunt ad Dominum suum, et percussit totam terram Ægypti plagis variis.

The king of Egypt oppressed them, forcing them to make bricks of clay and build cities for him; so they cried out to this Lord of theirs, and he smote the whole land of Egypt with plagues of every sort,

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.

Cumque ejecissent eos Ægyptii a se, et cessasset plaga ab eis, et iterum eos vellent capere, et ad suum servitium revocare,

till at last the Egyptians were fain to be rid of them. But not for long; plagued no more, they tried to capture the men of Israel and make slaves of them anew.

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,

fugientibus his, Deus cæli mare aperuit, ita ut hinc inde aquæ quasi murus solidarentur, et isti pede sicco fundum maris perambulando transirent.

To these, as they fled, the God of heaven opened a path through the sea, whose waves stood firm as a wall to right and left while they marched across its floor dry-shod;

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.

In quo loco dum innumerabilis exercitus Ægyptiorum eos persequeretur, ita aquis coopertus est, ut non remaneret vel unus, qui factum posteris nuntiaret.

and when a great army from Egypt sought to follow them, it was overwhelmed in those waters, so that never a man escaped to tell his children the story.

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.

Egressi vero mare Rubrum, deserta Sina montis occupaverunt, in quibus numquam homo habitare potuit, vel filius hominis requievit.

The Red Sea once passed, they took for their own the desert country about Sinai, that never yet gave man a home, gave wanderer a resting-place;

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.

Illic fontes amari obdulcati sunt eis ad bibendum, et per annos quadraginta annonam de cælo consecuti sunt.

there from brackish fountains fresh water sprang, there, for forty years, heaven itself sent them nourishment.

There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven.

Ubicumque ingressi sunt sine arcu et sagitta, et absque scuto et gladio, Deus eorum pugnavit pro eis, et vicit.

Go where they would, without bow or arrow, shield or spear, God fought for them, and won the victory;

Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.

Et non fuit qui insultaret populo isti, nisi quando recessit a cultu Domini Dei sui.

there was no beating down such a people as this, save when they forsook the worship of the Lord their God;

And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.

Quotiescumque autem præter ipsum Deum suum, alterum coluerunt, dati sunt in prædam, et in gladium, et in opprobrium.

only when they worshipped some god other than himself, their own God, would he let them be plundered, and slaughtered, and treated with insult.

But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach.

Quotiescumque autem pœnituerunt se recessisse a cultura Dei sui, dedit eis Deus cæli virtutem resistendi.

Even then, did they but repent of their revolt from his allegiance, the God of heaven would give them strength to resist their assailants.

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.

Denique Chananæum regem, et Jebusæum, et Pherezæum, et Hethæum, et Hevæum, et Amorrhæum, et omnes potentes in Hesebon prostraverunt, et terras eorum et civitates eorum ipsi possederunt:

So it was they overthrew kings a many, Chanaanite and Jebusite, Pherezite and Hethite and Hevite; the Amorrhite king, too, and all the warrior chiefs of Hesebon; took possession of their lands, and garrisoned their cities.

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:

et usque dum non peccarent in conspectu Dei sui, erant cum illis bona: Deus enim illorum odit iniquitatem.

All went well with them, so long as no sin of theirs offended his eye, the God that is an enemy to all wrong.

And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity.

Nam et ante hos annos cum recessissent a via quam dederat illis Deus ut ambularent in ea, exterminati sunt præliis a multis nationibus, et plurimi eorum captivi abducti sunt in terram non suam.

But there was a time, these many years back, when they forsook the old paths God had given them to follow; then, in battle after battle, nation after nation defeated them, and a multitude of them were borne away as captives into an alien land;

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.

Nuper autem reversi ad Dominum Deum suum, ex dispersione qua dispersi fuerant, adunati sunt, et ascenderunt montana hæc omnia, et iterum possident Jerusalem, ubi sunt sancta eorum.

it was but lately that they turned to their God again, and he reunited the scattered remnants of them. So they returned to these hills, and took possession anew of Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is.

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.

Nunc ergo mi domine, perquire si est aliqua iniquitas eorum in conspectu Dei eorum: ascendamus ad illos, quoniam tradens tradet illos Deus eorum tibi, et subjugati erunt sub jugo potentiæ tuæ.

Of this, then, my lord, assure thyself first; has any guilt of theirs lost them the favour of their God? Then indeed march we against them; none more ready than this God of theirs to hand them over to thee, fit subjects for thy overmastering yoke.

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:

Si vero non est offensio populi hujus coram Deo suo, non poterimus resistere illis, quoniam Deus eorum defendet illos: et erimus in opprobrium universæ terræ.

If fault he has none to find with his own people, then meet them in battle we may not; he himself will be their defender, and ours will be a plight for all the world to mock at.

But if there be no offence of this people in the sight of their God, we cannot resist them, because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.

Et factum est, cum cessasset loqui Achior verba hæc, irati sunt omnes magnates Holofernis, et cogitabant interficere eum, dicentes ad alterutrum:

At these words of Achior’s, Holofernes’ lords were full of indignation, and thought to make an end of him. What talk is this? they said to one another.

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:

Quis est iste, qui filios Israël posse dicat resistere regi Nabuchodonosor et exercitibus ejus, homines inermes, et sine virtute, et sine peritia artis pugnæ?

Can the men of Israel, without arms, without valour, without skill in war, hold out against king Nabuchodonosor and his troops?

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?

Ut ergo agnoscat Achior quoniam fallit nos, ascendamus in montana: et cum capti fuerint potentes eorum, tunc cum eisdem gladio transverberabitur:

Scale we yonder heights, to prove Achior a liar, and when we have mastered the defenders, let Achior be put to the sword with the rest.

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:

ut sciat omnis gens quoniam Nabuchodonosor deus terræ est, et præter ipsum alius non est.

Let us prove to the whole world that Nabuchodonosor rules it, and other god there is none.

That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other.