Livre de Judith 3

BIBLES DES PEUPLES	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Alors on lui envoya des messagers pour demander la paix:	1 Then 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:
2 “Nous sommes les serviteurs de Nabukodonozor, le grand roi. Nous voici devant toi, fais de nous ce qu’il te plaira.	2 Let 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.
3 Voici nos fermes, nos villages, tous nos champs de blé, nos brebis et nos bœufs, tous nos campements et leurs enclos; tout cela est à toi, fais-en ce que tu voudras.	3 All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of cheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:
4 Voici nos villes: leurs habitants sont tes esclaves. Viens, tu peux t’y présenter comme tu voudras.”	4 Let all we have be subject to thy law.
5 Ces messagers se présentèrent donc devant Holoferne et lui remirent leur message.	5 Both we and our children are thy servants.
6 Alors il descendit vers la côte avec son armée, il établit des garnisons dans toutes les villes fortifiées et il enrôla des hommes de guerre comme troupes auxiliaires.	6 Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee.
7 Les habitants de ces cités et des cités voisines le reçurent avec des couronnes et des danses accompagnées de tambourins.	7 Then 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.
8 Cela ne l’empêcha pas de détruire leurs temples et de couper leurs arbres sacrés. Il avait reçu la mission d’exterminer tous les dieux des pays et d’obliger tous les peuples à ne plus adorer que le seul Nabukodonozor. Il devait obliger toute langue et toute race à l’invoquer comme un Dieu.	8 And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war.
9 C’est ainsi qu’il arriva dans la plaine d’Esdrelon, près de Dotaia, un village situé aux pieds de la grande chaîne de Judée.	9 And 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.
10 Il installa son camp entre Guéba et Scythopolis et il y resta tout un mois pour refaire ses forces.	10 And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and tumbrels, and flutes.
	11 And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:
	12 For he both destroyed their cities and cut down their groves.
	13 For 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.
	14 And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa,
	15 And 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.