9 The people of Bethulia kept Achior alive, and he told us everything he said at the meeting with you.
10 Sir, you should take seriously what he told you, because everything he said is true. No enemy can conquer or defeat our nation of Israel, unless we are guilty of sinning against our God.
11 But you can defeat the Israelites, just as you have planned, because they are about to make our God furious by sinning against him. And when that happens, they will certainly die.
12 They are almost out of food and water, so they have decided to slaughter their livestock and eat foods that God has forbidden them to eat.
13 They're going to eat the offerings that have been dedicated to God and have been set aside for the priests who serve him in the Jerusalem temple. These offerings include the first harvests of wheat and ten percent of their wine and olive oil. Only the priests are supposed to touch these things,
14 but even the people of Jerusalem have already broken that law. So my own people in Bethulia have sent messengers to ask the religious leaders in Jerusalem if the same thing could be done here.
15 On the same day that these messengers return with the news, the people in Bethulia will begin eating these foods. That's when you will be able to defeat them.