Achior Is Sent to Bethulia

When Achior finished speaking, the people around Holofernes' tent burst into complaint. Important men in Holofernes' camp, including those by the seaside and in Moab, spoke fiercely against him. They said Israel had no power to fight strongly, and they boasted that the whole army would easily devour them.

After the uproar settled, Holofernes answered Achior before the foreigners. He scorned Achior for saying Israel's God would defend them and claimed that no god could stand against Nebuchadnezzar. Holofernes boasted that Israel would be struck down, and he warned Achior that he would be sent away and share their fate if they were conquered.

Then Holofernes ordered his servants to take Achior to Bethulia and hand him over to the Israelites. They led him out of the camp, across the plain, and up toward the hill country near the springs below Bethulia. When the men of the city saw them, they took up weapons, and slingers kept the servants from coming up by throwing stones.

So the servants took cover under the hill, bound Achior, threw him down at the foot of the hill, and left him there before returning to their lord. Then the Israelites came down from the city, untied him, brought him into Bethulia, and presented him to the rulers: Ozias, Chabris, and Charmis.

The elders gathered, and the young men and women also came to the assembly. Achior told them what had happened in Holofernes' council and what Holofernes had said against Israel. The people fell down to worship God and asked him to look on their suffering and their enemies' pride. They comforted Achior, praised him warmly, and that night Ozias welcomed him to his house while the elders called on the God of Israel for help.