| 1 Gli inviarono quindi messaggeri con proposte pacifiche, dicendo: | 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 « Ecco, noi, sudditi del gran re Nabucodonosor, ci prostriamo innanzi a te: fa’ di noi come piace alla tua persona. | 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 Ecco le nostre case, ogni nostro paese, tutti i campi di grano, i greggi, gli armenti, tutte le mandrie delle nostre tende dipendono dal tuo cenno: servitene come ti pare e piace. | 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 Ecco, le nostre città e i loro abitanti sono tuoi schiavi, vieni, avanza verso di esse per farne ciò che è bene ai tuoi occhi ». | 4 Let all we have be subject to thy law. |
| 5 Gli uomini arrivarono presso Oloferne e riferirono a lui quelle parole. | 5 Both we and our children are thy servants. |
| 6 Allora discese con l’esercito verso la costa, pose presidi nelle città fortificate e da esse prese uomini scelti come milizie ausiliarie. | 6 Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee. |
| 7 I cittadini e tutto il circondario lo accolsero con corone, con danze e con musiche. | 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 Abbattè i loro santuari sulle alture, rase al suolo i loro boschetti sacri; gli era stato ampiamente permesso di distruggere tutte le divinità indigene, perchè tutte le nazioni adorassero il solo Nabucodonosor e tutte le lingue di tutte le loro tribù lo invocassero come Dio. | 8 And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war. |
| 9 Arrivò, così, di fronte a Esdrelon nelle vicinanze di Dotaia che è situata di fronte al grande pendio della Giudea; | 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 si accampò tra Ghebe e la città degli Sciti e quisostò per un intero mese, onde riunire tutte le salmerie dell’esercito. | 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. |
