Giuditta 3

NOVA VULGATA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Et miserunt ad eum legatos verbis pacificis dicentes:	1 Then the kings as well as the princes of the provinces sent their emissaries from all of the cities: from Syria, particularly Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya as well as Cilicia. These, upon coming to Holofernes, said:
2 “ Ecce nospueri Nabuchodonosor regis magni adstamus coram te; utere nobis, quemadmodumplacet faciei tuae.	2 “Let your indignation concerning us cease. For it is better for us to live in service to Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, and to become subject to you, rather than to die, even though we may have to suffer our condemnation into the annihilation of slavery.
3 Ecce villae nostrae et omnis locus noster et omnis campusfrumenti et greges et armenta et omnia stabula iumentorum nostrorum adstant antefaciem tuam; utere, quemadmodum placet tibi.	3 All our cities and all our possessions, all mountains, and hills, and fields, and herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our resources and families are in your sight.
4 Ecce et civitates nostrae et, quiinhabitant in eis, servi tui sunt; veniens occurre eis, sicut est bonum inoculis tuis ”.	4 Let all that we have be subject to your law.
5 Et venerunt viri ad Holofernen et nuntiaverunt ei secundumverba haec.	5 We, and our sons, are your servants.
6 Et descendit ad maritimam ipse et virtus eius et custodivitcivitates excelsas et accepit ex eis in auxilium viros electos.	6 Come to us as a peaceful lord, and use our service, just as it pleases you.”
7 Et exceperunteum ipsi et omnis circumregio eorum cum coronis et choris et tympanis.	7 Then he descended from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and he took charge of every city and of every inhabitant of the land.
8 Etdestruxit omnes fines eorum et lucos eorum excidit, et datum ei erat omnes deosterrae exterminare, ut ipsi soli Nabuchodonosor servirent omnes gentes, et omneslinguae et omnes tribus eorum invocarent eum deum.	8 And, from all the cities, he took for himself auxiliaries: strong men and well-chosen for war.
9 Et venit contra faciemEsdrelon prope Dothain, quae est contra descensum magnum Iudaeae,	9 And such a dread lay upon those provinces, that the leading and honored inhabitants of all the cities, together with the people, went out to meet him at his arrival.
10 et castraposuerunt inter Gabaa et Scytharum civitatem. Et erat ibi mensem dierum, utcolligeret omnia utensilia virtutis suae.	10 They received him with garlands and lamps; they were led by choirs with timbrels and flutes.
	11 Yet, not even by doing these things were they able to mitigate the ferocity of his chest.
	12 For he both destroyed their cities and cut down their sacred groves.
	13 For king Nebuchadnezzar had instructed him to exterminate all the gods of the earth, evidently so that he alone might be called ‘god’ by those nations which were able to be subjugated by the power of Holofernes.
	14 But when he had passed through Syria Sobal, and all of Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans in the land of Gibeah.
	15 And he took their cities, and he sat there for thirty days, during which days he instructed all the troops of his army to regroup.