Judith 3

¹So they sent ambassadors unto him to treat of peace, saying,

²Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.

³Behold, our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents lie before thy face; use them as it pleaseth thee.

⁴Behold, even our cities and the inhabitants thereof are thy servants; come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.

⁵So the men came to Holofernes, and declared unto him after this manner.

⁶Then came he down toward the sea coast, both he and his army, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for aid.

⁷So they and all the country round about received them with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels.

⁸Yet he did cast down their frontiers, and cut down their groves: for he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god.

⁹Also he came over against Esdraelon near unto Judea, over against the great strait of Judea.

¹⁰And he pitched between Geba and Scythopolis, and there he tarried a whole month, that he might gather together all the carriages of his army.

Judith 3

¹Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said:

²Let thy indignation towards us cease, for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.

³All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:

⁴Let all we have be subject to thy law,

⁵Both we and our children are thy servants.

⁶Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee,

⁷Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the inhabitants of the land.

⁸And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war,

⁹And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the people, went out to meet him at his coming.

¹⁰And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and timbrels, and flutes.

¹¹And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:

¹²For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves.

¹³For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes.

¹⁴And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa,

¹⁵And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to be united.