Achior Thrown Out and Taken In
1When the uproar of the men around the council had subsided, Holofernes, commander in chief of the forces of Asshur, spoke to Achior in front of the whole foreign assembly and all the Moabites: 2“And who are you, Achior — you and the hirelings of Ephraim — to play the prophet among us as you have today, and to tell us not to wage war on the race of Israel, on the ground that their God holds a shield over them? Who is a god except Nebuchadnezzar? He will send out his force and blot them off the face of the earth; their God will not save them. 3We are his slaves, and we will strike them as if they were a single man. They will not stand up under the force of our cavalry. 4We will burn them where they stand. Their mountains will be drunk on their blood, their plains will be packed with their corpses, and not a footprint of theirs will hold its ground in front of us: they will perish, and that is all. So says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of the whole earth — for he has spoken, and nothing he says falls empty. 5And you, Achior, hireling of Ammon, who have spoken these words on the day of your own crime: from today you will not see my face again, until I have taken vengeance on this race out of Egypt. 6Then, when I come back, the iron of my host and the throng of my attendants will pierce your ribs, and you will fall among their wounded. 7My slaves are going to plant you back in the hill country and leave you in one of the towns along the ascents. 8You will not die — not until you are wiped out along with them. 9And if in your heart you truly hope they will never be taken, do not let your face fall. I have said it, and not one of my words will miss its mark.” 10Then Holofernes ordered the slaves attending him in his tent to seize Achior, deliver him back to Bethulia, and hand him over to the Israelites. 11His slaves seized him and marched him from the camp out onto the plain; from the middle of the flatland they went up into the hill country and reached the springs below Bethulia. 12When the men of the town spotted them on the crest of the hill, they caught up their weapons and left the town for the summit, and every slinger held the ascent, pelting them with stones. 13So they ducked in under the hill, tied Achior up, left him lying at the mountain’s root, and made off to their lord. 14The Israelites came down from their town, stood over him, untied him, and brought him into Bethulia, where they set him before the rulers of their town. 15In those days the rulers were Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, Chabris son of Othniel, and Charmis son of Melchiel. 16They summoned all the elders of the town, and every young man among them came running, and the women too, to the assembly. They stood Achior in the middle of the whole people, and Uzziah asked him what had happened. 17He answered by reporting to them what was said at Holofernes’ council, everything he himself had spoken in front of the Assyrian commanders, and all the swollen words Holofernes had aimed at the house of Israel. 18At that the people fell prostrate, worshipped God, and cried out: 19“Lord, God of heaven, look down on their arrogance, take pity on the humiliation of our race, and turn your eyes today toward the faces of those consecrated to you.” 20They reassured Achior and praised him warmly, 21and Uzziah took him from the assembly to his own house and gave a banquet for the elders. All that night long they begged the God of Israel for help.
