1Now the sons of Israel who lived in Judea heard all that Holofernes, the commander-in-chief of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered all their sanctuaries and given them over to destruction.
2And they were exceedingly afraid of him, and they were troubled for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God.
3For they had recently returned from captivity, and all the people of Judea had just been gathered together; and the vessels, the altar, and the house had been consecrated after their defilement.
4So they sent word into all the territory of Samaria, and to Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, and Jericho, and to Choba, Aesora, and the valley of Salem.
5And they seized all the high mountaintops in advance, fortified the villages on them, and laid in provisions in preparation for war, because their fields had recently been harvested.
6And Joakim the high priest, who was in Jerusalem in those days, wrote to the inhabitants of Betulua and Betomestaim—which is opposite Esdraelon, facing the plain near Dothan—
7telling them to seize the mountain passes of the hill country, because the entrance into Judea was through them. And it was easy to block any who advanced, since the approach was narrow, wide enough for no more than two men at a time.
8And the sons of Israel did as Joakim the high priest and the council of elders of all the people of Israel, who were in session in Jerusalem, had commanded them.
9And every man of Israel cried out to God with great fervency, and they humbled themselves with great fervency.
10They and their wives, their children, and their livestock—and every resident alien, hired hand, and slave bought with silver—put sackcloth on their loins.
11And every man, woman, and child of Israel living in Jerusalem fell on their faces before the temple, put ashes on their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord.
12They also draped the altar with sackcloth and cried out earnestly with one accord to the God of Israel, asking that he not give their children for plunder, their wives as booty, the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the holy things to defilement and reproach, to be gloated over by the nations.
13And the Lord heard their voice and saw their affliction. And the people fasted for many days throughout all Judea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.
14And Joakim the high priest, and all the priests who stood before the Lord, and those who ministered to the Lord, had sackcloth girded on their loins and offered the regular burnt offering, and the vows and freewill offerings of the people.
15And there was ash on their turbans, and they cried out to the Lord with all their strength to look upon the whole house of Israel with favor.
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