Giuditta 3

LA SACRA BIBBIA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Gl'inviarono perciò messaggeri con proposte di pace in questi termini:	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 "Ecco, noi i servitori del gran re Nabucodònosor, ci mettiamo davanti a te, fa' di noi ciò che è gradito al tuo cospetto.	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 Ecco le nostre abitazioni, ogni nostro podere, tutti i campi di grano, le greggi, gli armenti e tutte le mandrie dei nostri attendamenti sono a tua disposizione, sèrvitene come ti piace.	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 Anche le nostre città e i loro abitanti sono tuoi servitori, vieni e trattali nel modo migliore che credi".	4 Let all that we have be subject to your law.
5 Si presentarono dunque ad Oloferne quegli uomini e gli riferirono tali parole.	5 We, and our sons, are your servants.
6 Allora discese con il suo esercito verso la costa, costituendo presidi nelle città fortificate e prelevando da esse uomini scelti come ausiliari.	6 Come to us as a peaceful lord, and use our service, just as it pleases you.”
7 Gli abitanti di quelle città e di tutta la regione circostante lo accolsero con corone, danze e al suono di timpani.	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 Ma egli demolì tutti i templi e tagliò i loro boschi sacri, perché aveva avuto il compito di distruggere tutti gli dèi della terra, in modo che tutti i popoli adorassero solo Nabucodònosor e tutte le lingue e tribù lo invocassero come dio.	8 And, from all the cities, he took for himself auxiliaries: strong men and well-chosen for war.
9 Poi giunse dinanzi a Esdrelon, vicino a Dotain, che si trova di fronte alla grande catena montuosa della Giudea.	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 Si accamparono tra Gebe e Scitopoli e Oloferne rimase là un mese intero per poter raccogliere tutto il vettovagliamento per il suo esercito.	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.