1
Καὶ ἀνηγγέλλη Ὀλοφέρνῃ ἀρχιστρατήγῳ δυνάμεως Ἀσσοὺρ, διότι οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ παρεσκευάσαντο εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ τὰς διόδους τῆς ὀρεινῆς συνέκλεισαν, καὶ ἐτείχισαν πᾶσαν κορυφὴν ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ, καὶ ἔθηκαν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις σκάνδαλα.
Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assyria, that the children of Israel 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:
2
Καὶ ὠργίσθη θυμῷ σφόδρα, καὶ ἐκάλεσε πάντας τοὺς ἄρχοντας Μωὰβ, καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς Ἀμμὼν, καὶ πάντας σατράπας τῆς παραλίας,
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,
3
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ἀναγγείλατε δή μοι, υἱοὶ Χαναὰν, τίς ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ὁ καθήμενος ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, καὶ τίνες ἃς κατοικοῦσι πόλεις; καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν τίνι τὸ κράτος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ τίς ἀνέστηκεν ἐπʼ αὐτῶν βασιλεὺς ἡγούμενος στρατηγίας αὐτῶν;
and he said unto them, Tell me now, ye sons of Canaan, 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;
4
Καὶ διὰ τί κατενωτίσαντο τοῦ μὴ ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἀπάντησίν μοι παρὰ πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν δυσμαῖς;
and why have they determined not to come and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of the west?
5
Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἀχιὼρ ὁ ἡγούμενος πάντων υἱῶν Ἀμμὼν, ἀκουσάτω δὴ ὁ κύριός μου λόγον ἐκ στόματος τοῦ δούλου σου, καὶ ἀναγγελῶ σοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, ὃς κατοικεῖ τὴν ὀρεινὴν ταύτην, πλησίον σοι οἰκοῦντος, καὶ οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται ψεῦδος ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ δούλου σου.
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.
6
Ὁ λαὸς οὗτός εἰσιν ἀπογόνοι Χαλδαίων,
This people are descended of the Chaldeans:
7
καὶ παρῴκησαν τὸ πρότερον ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳ, ὅτι οὐκ ἐβουλήθησαν ἀκολουθῆσαι τοῖς θεοῖς τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν, οἳ ἐγένοντο ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων·
and they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldea.
8
καὶ ἐξέβησαν ἐξ ὁδοῦ τῶν γονέων αὐτῶν, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ Θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, Θεῷ ᾧ ἐπέγνωσαν· καὶ ἐξέβαλον αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔφυγον εἰς Μεσοποταμίαν, καὶ παρῴκησαν ἐκεῖ ἡμέρας πολλάς.
For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshiped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.
9
Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῶν ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς παροικίας αὐτῶν, καὶ πορευθῆναι εἰς γῆν Χαναάν· καὶ κατῴκησαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἐπληθύνθησαν χρυσίῳ καὶ ἀργυρίῳ καὶ ἐν κτήνεσι πολλοῖς σφόδρα.
Then their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Canaan: where they dwelt, and were increased with gold and silver, and with very much cattle.
10
Καὶ κατέβησαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ἐκάλυψε γὰρ τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς Χαναὰν λιμὸς, καὶ παρῴκησαν ἐκεῖ μέχρις οὗ διετράφησαν· καὶ ἐγένοντο ἐκεῖ εἰς πλῆθος πολύ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀριθμὸς τοῦ γένους αὐτῶν.
But when a famine covered all the land of Canaan, they went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, while they were nourished, and became there a great multitude, so that one could not number their nation.
11
Καὶ ἐπανέστη αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ κατεσοφίσαντο αὐτοὺς ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πλίνθῳ, καὶ ἐταπείνωσαν αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἔθεντο αὐτοὺς εἰς δούλους.
Therefore the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtly with them, and brought them low with laboring in brick, and made them slaves.
12
Καὶ ἀνεβόησαν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπάταξε πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν Αἰγύπτου πληγαῖς, ἐν αἷς οὐκ ἦν ἴασις· καὶ ἐξέβαλον αὐτοὺς οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν.
Then they cried unto their God, and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.
13
Καὶ κατεξήρανεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν,
And God dried the Red Sea before them,
14
καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτοὺς εἰς ὁδὸν τοῦ Σινὰ, καὶ Κάδης Βαρνὴ, καὶ ἐξέβαλον πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.
and brought them to Mount Sinai, and Kadesh-barnea, and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness.
15
Καὶ ᾤκησαν ἐν γῇ Ἀμοῤῥαίων, καὶ πάντας τοὺς Εσεβωνίτας ἐξωλόθρευσαν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὐτῶν· καὶ διαβάντες τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐκληρονόμησαν πᾶσαν τὴν ὀρεινήν.
So they dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Heshbon, and passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.
16
Καὶ ἐξέβαλον ἐκ προσώπου αὐτῶν τὸν Χανανῖον, καὶ τὸν Φερεζαῖον, καὶ τὸν Ἰεβουσαῖον. καὶ τὸν Συχὲμ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς Γεργεσαίους, καὶ κατῴκησαν ἐν αὐτῇ ἡμέρας πολλάς.
And they cast forth before them the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Shechemite, and all the Girgashites, and they dwelt in that country many days.
17
Καὶ ἕως οὐχ ἥμαρτον ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῶν, ἦν τὰ ἀγαθὰ μετʼ αὐτῶν, ὅτι Θεὸς μισῶν ἀδικίαν μετʼ αὐτῶν ἐστίν.
And while they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.
18
Ὅτε δὲ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἧς διέθετο αὐτοῖς, ἐξωλοθρεύθησαν ἐν πολλοῖς πολέμοις ἐπὶ πολὺ σφόδρα, καὶ ᾐχμαλωτεύθησαν εἰς γῆν οὐκ ἰδίαν, καὶ ὁ ναὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῶν ἐγενήθη εἰς ἔδαφος, καὶ αἱ πόλεις αὐτῶν ἐκρατήθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπεναντίων.
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
Καὶ νῦν ἐπιστρέψαντες ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν, ἀνέβησαν ἐκ τῆς διασπορᾶς οὗ διεσπάρησαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ κατέσχον τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, οὗ τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτῶν, καὶ κατῳκίσθησαν ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ, ὅτι ἦν ἔρημος,
But now are they returned to their God, and are come up from the places where they were scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country; for it was desolate.
20
καὶ νῦν, δέσποτα κύριε, εἰ μέν ἐστιν ἀγνόημα ἐν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ, καὶ ἁμαρτάνουσιν εἰς τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπισκεψόμεθα ὅ, τι ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτοῖς σκάνδαλον τοῦτο, καὶ ἀναβησόμεθα, καὶ ἐκπολεμήσομεν αὐτούς.
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
Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνομία ἐν τῷ ἔθνει αὐτῶν, παρελθέτω δὴ ὁ κύριός μου, μήποτε ὑπερασπίσῃ ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐσόμεθα εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν ἐναντίον πάσης τῆς γῆς.
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
Καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἐπαύσατο Ἀχιὼρ λαλῶν τοὺς λόγους τούτους, καὶ ἐγόγγυσε πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ κυκλῶν τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ περιεστώς· καὶ εἶπαν οἱ μεγιστᾶνες Ὀλοφέρνου, καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν παραλίαν καὶ τὴν Μωὰβ, συγκόψαι αὐτόν,
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, spoke that he should kill him.
23
οὐ γὰρ φοβηθησόμεθα ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· ἰδοὺ γὰρ λαὸς ἐν ᾧ οὐκ ἔστι δύναμις, οὐδὲ κράτος εἰς παράταξιν ἰσχυράν.
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
Διὸ δὴ ἀναβησόμεθα, καὶ ἔσονται εἰς κατάβρωμα πάσης τῆς στρατιᾶς σου, δέσποτα Ὀλοφέρνη.
Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.