Judit 5

1Holofernes, jefe del ejército asirio, recibió la noticia de que los hijos de; Israel se preparaban para resistirle y que tenían cerrados los pasos de los montes.

2Entonces, montando en cólera, e irritándose sobremanera, hizo venir a todos los príncipes de Moab, y a los capitanes de los ammonitas,

3y les habló de esta manera: “Decidme ¿Qué pueblo es ese que ocupa los montes, qué ciudades son las suyas, cuáles y cuan grandes; cuál es su poder, cuánta su gente, y quién es el jefe de sus tropas?

4¿Por qué estos, entre todos los que moran en el oriente, nos han menospreciado y no han venido a nuestro encuentro para recibirnos como amigos?”

5Entonces Aquior, jefe de todos los ammonitas, le respondió y dijo: “Si te dignas escucharme, diré, señor mío, en tu presencia la verdad acerca de ese pueblo que habita en las montañas, y no saldrá de mi boca palabra falsa,

6Ese pueblo es del linaje de los caldeos.

7Habitó primeramente en Mesopotamia, pues no quisieron seguir los dioses de sus padres, que vivían en el país de los caldeos.

8Abandonando las ceremonias de sus padres, que rendían culto a muchos dioses,

9adoraron al solo Dios del cielo, el cual les mandó salir de allí y pasar a vivir en Canaán. Mas cuando una gran hambre invadió todo aquel país, bajaron a Egipto, donde por espacio de cuatrocientos años se multiplicaron hasta hacerse incontable su número.

10Tratados con dureza por el Rey de Egipto y forzados a edificar ciudades con barro y ladrillos, clamaron a su Señor, el cual hirió a toda la tierra de Egipto con varias plagas.

11Entonces los egipcios los arrojaron de sí. Pero cuando cesaron las plagas, quisieron de nuevo cautivarlos y reducirlos a la anterior servidumbre.

12Mas ellos huyeron, y el Dios del cielo les abrió el mar; de tal manera que de un lado y otro las aguas formaron una masa sólida como un muro; y así caminando a pie enjuto, atravesaron el fondo del mar.

13Un ejército innumerable de egipcios que los perseguía por el mismo paso, fue de tal suerte cubierto de las aguas, que ni uno siquiera quedó para contar el suceso a la posteridad.

14Salidos del Mar Rojo ocuparon los desiertos del monte Sinaí, donde jamás hombre alguno pudo habitar, ni descansar persona alguna.

15Allí las fuentes amargas se les convirtieron en dulces, a fin de que pudiesen beber, y por espacio de cuarenta años recibieron el manjar del cielo.

16Dondequiera que llegaron, sin arco ni saeta, sin escudo ni espada, peleó por ellos su Dios y salió vencedor.

17No hubo jamás quien pudiese hacer daño a este pueblo, mientras no se apartó del culto del Señor su Dios.

18Pero siempre que, fuera de su Dios, adoraron a otro, fueron entregados al saqueo, a la espada y al oprobio.

19En cambio, cuando se arrepintieron de haber abandonado el culto de su Dios, el Dios del cielo les dio fuerzas para resistir.

20Así que al fin abatieron a los reyes cananeos, jebuseos, fereceos, heteos, heveos, amorreos y a todos los potentados de Hesebón, de cuyas tierras y ciudades tomaron posesión.

21Mientras no pecaron contra su Dios, les fue bien, porque su Dios aborrece la iniquidad.

22Pocos años hace, se desviaron del camino que Dios les había señalado para que anduviesen por él, y fueron destruidos en batallas por muchas naciones y llevados cautivos muchísimos de ellos a tierra extraña

23Mas habiéndose convertido poco ha al Señor, su Dios, se han reunido de nuevo (volviendo) de los lugares en que habían sido esparcidos, han repoblado todas estas montañas y poseen nuevamente a Jerusalén, donde está su santuario.

24Ahora, pues, infórmate, oh señor mío, si ellos son reos de algún delito delante de su Dios. (De ser así) marcharemos contra ellos, porque indudablemente su Dios los entregará en tus manos y quedarán sujetos al yugo de tu poder.

25Pero si este pueblo no ha ofendido a su Dios, no podremos resistirle, porque le defenderá su Dios, y vendremos a ser el escarnio de toda la tierra.”

26Acabado que hubo Aquior de hablar estas palabras, se indignaron todos los magnates de Holofernes y pensaban quitarle la vida, diciéndose uno a otro:

27“¿Quién es este que dice que al rey Nabucodonosor y a sus ejércitos pueden resistir los hijos de Israel, unos hombres sin armas, sin valor y sin pericia en el arte militar?

28Por eso, para que Aquior conozca cómo nos engaña, subamos a esas montañas, y después de cautivar los más valientes de entre ellos, será pasado a cuchillo él juntamente con los mismos,

29para que sepa todo el mundo que Nabucodonosor es el dios de la tierra y que no hay otro fuera de él.”

1Nuntiatumque est Holoferni principi militiæ Assyriorum, quod filii Israël præpararent se ad resistendum, ac montium itinera conclusissent:

2et furore nimio exarsit in iracundia magna, vocavitque omnes principes Moab et duces Ammon,

3et 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:

4et quare præ omnibus qui habitant in oriente, isti contempserunt nos, et non exierunt obviam nobis ut susciperent nos cum pace?

5Tunc 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.

6Populus iste ex progenie Chaldæorum est.

7Hic primum in Mesopotamia habitavit, quoniam noluerunt sequi deos patrum suorum, qui erant in terra Chaldæorum.

8Deserentes itaque cæremonias patrum suorum, quæ in multitudine deorum erant,

9unum 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.

10Cumque 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.

11Cumque ejecissent eos Ægyptii a se, et cessasset plaga ab eis, et iterum eos vellent capere, et ad suum servitium revocare,

12fugientibus his, Deus cæli mare aperuit, ita ut hinc inde aquæ quasi murus solidarentur, et isti pede sicco fundum maris perambulando transirent.

13In quo loco dum innumerabilis exercitus Ægyptiorum eos persequeretur, ita aquis coopertus est, ut non remaneret vel unus, qui factum posteris nuntiaret.

14Egressi vero mare Rubrum, deserta Sina montis occupaverunt, in quibus numquam homo habitare potuit, vel filius hominis requievit.

15Illic fontes amari obdulcati sunt eis ad bibendum, et per annos quadraginta annonam de cælo consecuti sunt.

16Ubicumque ingressi sunt sine arcu et sagitta, et absque scuto et gladio, Deus eorum pugnavit pro eis, et vicit.

17Et non fuit qui insultaret populo isti, nisi quando recessit a cultu Domini Dei sui.

18Quotiescumque autem præter ipsum Deum suum, alterum coluerunt, dati sunt in prædam, et in gladium, et in opprobrium.

19Quotiescumque autem pœnituerunt se recessisse a cultura Dei sui, dedit eis Deus cæli virtutem resistendi.

20Denique 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:

21et usque dum non peccarent in conspectu Dei sui, erant cum illis bona: Deus enim illorum odit iniquitatem.

22Nam 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.

23Nuper 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.

24Nunc 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.

25Si vero non est offensio populi hujus coram Deo suo, non poterimus resistere illis, quoniam Deus eorum defendet illos: et erimus in opprobrium universæ terræ.

26Et factum est, cum cessasset loqui Achior verba hæc, irati sunt omnes magnates Holofernis, et cogitabant interficere eum, dicentes ad alterutrum:

27Quis est iste, qui filios Israël posse dicat resistere regi Nabuchodonosor et exercitibus ejus, homines inermes, et sine virtute, et sine peritia artis pugnæ?

28Ut ergo agnoscat Achior quoniam fallit nos, ascendamus in montana: et cum capti fuerint potentes eorum, tunc cum eisdem gladio transverberabitur:

29ut sciat omnis gens quoniam Nabuchodonosor deus terræ est, et præter ipsum alius non est.

1And 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.

2And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Amman.

3And 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:

4And 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?

5Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said: If thou vouch safe, 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.

6This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.

7They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans.

8Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods,

9They 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.

10And 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.

11And 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,

12The 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.

13And 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.

14And 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.

15There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven.

16Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.

17And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.

18But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach.

19And as often as they were penitent for having revolted from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them power to resist.

20So 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:

21And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity.

22And 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.

23But 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.

24Now 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:

25But if there be no offense of this people in the sight of their God, we can not resist them, because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.

26And 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:

27Who 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?

28That 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:

29That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other.