Giuditta 3

BIBBIA CEI 2008	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Gli inviarono perciò messaggeri con proposte di pace:	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, servi del grande re Nabucodònosor, ci mettiamo davanti a te; fa’ di noi quanto ti piacerà.	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 e tutto il nostro territorio e tutti i campi di grano, le greggi e gli armenti e tutto il bestiame delle nostre tende sono a tua disposizione, perché te ne serva come a te 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 Anche le nostre città e i loro abitanti sono tuoi servi; vieni e trattale come ti è gradito».	4 Let all we have be subject to thy law.
5 Si presentarono dunque a Oloferne quegli uomini e si espressero con lui in questo tono.	5 Both we and our children are thy servants.
6 Egli scese allora con il suo esercito lungo la costa e pose presìdi nelle città fortificate, poi prelevò da esse uomini scelti come ausiliari.	6 Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee.
7 Quelle popolazioni con tutto il paese circostante lo accolsero con corone e danze e suono di tamburelli.	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 Ma egli demolì tutti i loro templi e tagliò i boschi sacri, perché aveva ordine di distruggere tutti gli dèi della terra, in modo che tutti i popoli adorassero solo Nabucodònosor e tutte le lingue e le tribù lo invocassero come dio.	8 And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war.
9 Poi giunse in vista di Èsdrelon, vicino a Dotàim, che è di fronte alle grandi montagne 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 accamparono fra Gebe e Scitòpoli e Oloferne rimase là un mese intero, per raccogliere tutto il bottino delle sue truppe.	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.