6 ¹ When the disturbance made by the men outside the council died down, Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, said to Achior and all the Moabites in the presence of all the foreign contingents:

6 ² "And who are you, Achior, and you hirelings of Ephraim, to prophesy among us as you have done today and tell us not to make war against the people of Israel because their God will defend them? Who is God except Nebuchadnezzar? 6 ³ He will send his forces and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God will not deliver them - we the king's servants will destroy them as one man. They cannot resist the might of our cavalry. 6 ⁴ We will burn them up, and their mountains will be drunk with their blood, and their fields will be full of their dead. They cannot withstand us, but will utterly perish. So says King Nebuchadnezzar, the lord of the whole earth. For he has spoken; none of his words shall be in vain.

6 ⁵ "But you, Achior, you Ammonite hireling, who have said these words on the day of your iniquity, you shall not see my face again from this day until I take revenge on this race that came out of Egypt. 6 ⁶ Then the sword of my army and the spear of my servants shall pierce your sides, and you shall fall among their wounded, when I return. 6 ⁷ Now my slaves are going to take you back into the hill country and put you in one of the cities beside the passes, 6 ⁸ and you will not die until you perish along with them. 6 ⁹ If you really hope in your heart that they will not be taken, do not look downcast! I have spoken and none of my words shall fail."