1 The noise from the crowd of people died down. Then General Holofernes of the Assyrian army said to Achior in front of all the foreigners there:
2 Achior, who do you think you are, coming here with your hired soldiers from Ephraim? You must think you're some kind of prophet! You warned us not to fight against the Israelites because their God will defend them. But King Nebuchadnezzar is the only god! He will send enough troops to completely wipe them out, and the God of those Israelites won't be able to help them.
3 We are Nebuchadnezzar's servants, and we will defeat them as if their entire army were only one soldier. They won't stand a chance against our powerful cavalry.
4 We will destroy them completely. The hills of Israel will be covered with their blood, and the valleys will be filled with their dead bodies. The Israelites will disappear from the earth, and not a trace of them will be left. This is the command of King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the whole earth, and everything he said will happen.
5 Achior, you're nothing but a hired soldier from Ammon, and you have insulted the nation of Assyria. You will not see me again until I return from taking revenge on those people who escaped from Egypt.
6 Then my troops will put you to death, and you will die like one of the Israelites.