The Book of Judith

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

Nabuchodonosor sends Holofernes to waste the countries of the west.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, the two and twentieth day of the first month, the word was given out in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he would revenge himself.

And he called all the ancients, and all the governors, and his officers of war, and communicated to them the secret of his counsel:

And he said that his thoughts were to bring all the earth under his empire.

And when this saying pleased them all, Nabuchodonosor, the king, called Holofernes the general of his armies,

And said to him: Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that despised my commandment.

Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and all the strong cities thou shalt bring under my yoke.

Then Holofernes called the captains and officers of the power of the Assyrians: and he mustered men for the expedition, as the king commanded him, a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men on foot, and twelve thousand archers, horsemen.

And he made all his warlike preparations to go before with a multitude of innumerable camels, with all provisions sufficient for the armies in abundance, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, without number.

He appointed corn to be prepared out of all Syria in his passage.

But gold and silver he took out of the king’s house in great abundance.

And he went forth he and all the army, with the chariots, and horsemen, and archers, who covered the face of the earth, like locusts.

And when he had passed through the borders of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of Cilicia: and he went up to all their castles, and took all the strong places.

And he took by assault the renowned city of Melothus, and pillaged all the children of Tharsis, and the children of Ismahel, who were over against the face of the desert, and on the south of the land of Cellon.

And he passed over the Euphrates and came into Mesopotamia: and he forced all the stately cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, till one comes to the sea:

And he took the borders thereof from Cilicia to the coasts of Japheth, which are towards the south.

And he carried away all the children of Madian, and stripped them of all their riches, and all that resisted him he slew with the edge of the sword.

And after these things he went down into the plains of Damascus in the days of the harvest, and he set all the corn on fire, and he caused all the trees and vineyards to be cut down.

And the fear of them fell upon alit the inhabitants of the land.

Nabuchodonosor sends Holofernes to waste the countries of the west.

In the eighteenth year, the twenty-second day of the first month, there was talk in the house of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians that he should be avenged on all the land, even as he spoke.

He called together all his servants and all his great men, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and with his own mouth, recounted the wickedness of all the land.

They decreed to destroy all flesh which didn’t follow the word of his mouth.

It came to pass, when he had ended his counsel, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army, who was second to himself, and said to him,

“The great king, the lord of all the earth, says: ‘Behold, you shall go out from my presence, and take with you men who trust in their strength, to one hundred twenty thousand footmen and twelve thousand horses with their riders.

And you shall go out against all the west country, because they disobeyed the commandment of my mouth.

You shall declare to them that they should prepare earth and water, because I will go out in my wrath against them, and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of my army, who will plunder them.

Their slain will fill their valleys and brooks, and the river will be filled with their dead until it overflows.

I will lead them as captives to the utmost parts of all the earth.

But you shall go forth, and take all their coasts for me first. If they will yield themselves to you,(a) then you must reserve them for me until the day of their reproof.

As for those who resist, your eye shall not spare; but you shall give them up to be slain and to be plundered in all your land.

For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, I have spoken, and I will do this with my hand.

Moreover, you shall not transgress anything of the commandments of your lord, but you shall surely accomplish them, as I have commanded you. You shall not defer to do them.’”

So Holofernes went out from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors, the captains, and officers of the army of Asshur.

He counted chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, to one hundred twenty thousand, with twelve thousand archers on horseback.

He arranged them as a great multitude is ordered for the war.

He took camels, donkeys, and mules for their baggage, an exceedingly great multitude, and sheep, oxen, and goats without number for their provision,

and a large supply of rations for every man, and a huge amount of gold and silver out of the king’s house.

He went out, he and all his army, on their journey, to go before King Nebuchadnezzar, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, horsemen, and chosen footmen.

A great company of various nations went out with them like locusts and like the sand of the earth. For they could not be counted by reason of their multitude.

And they departed out of Nineveh three days’ journey toward the plain of Bectileth, and encamped from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the Upper Cilicia.

And he took all his army, his footmen, horsemen, and chariots, and went away from there into the hill country,

and destroyed Put and Lud, and plundered all the children of Rasses and the children of Ishmael, which were along the wilderness to the south of the land of the Chellians.

And he went over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and broke down all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai, until you come to the sea.

And he took possession of the borders of Cilicia, and killed all who resisted him, and came to the borders of Japheth, which were toward the south, opposite Arabia.

He surrounded all the children of Midian, and set their tents on fire, and plundered their sheepfolds.

He went down into the plain of Damascus in the days of wheat harvest, and set all their fields on fire, and utterly destroyed their flocks and herds, plundered their cities, laid their plains waste, and struck all their young men with the edge of the sword.

And the fear and the dread of him fell upon those who lived on the sea coast, upon those who were in Sidon and Tyre, those who lived in Sur and Ocina, and all who lived in Jemnaan. Those who lived in Azotus and Ascalon feared him exceedingly.

Footnotes

(a)2:10 Gr. they will yield...and you shall reserve.