Liber Iudith, 1

1. Arfaxat itaque rex Medorum subiugaverat multas gentes imperio suo et ipse ædificavit civitatem potentissimam quam appellavit Igbathanis

1. Now Arphaxad king of the Medes had brought many nations under his dominions, and he built a very strong city, which he called Ecbatana,

2. ex lapidibus quadratis et sectis fecit muros ejus in altitudine cubitorum septuaginta et in latitudine cubitorum triginta turres vero ejus posuit in altitudinem cubitorum centum

2. Of stones squared and hewed: he made the walls thereof seventy cubits broad, and thirty cubits high, and the towers thereof he made a hundred cubits high. But on the square of them, each side was extended the space of twenty feet.

3. per quadrum vero earum latus utrumque vicenorum pedum spatio tendebatur posuitque portas ejus in altitudine turrium

3. And he made the gates thereof according to the height of the towers:

4. et gloriabatur quasi potens in potentia exercitus sui et in gloria quadrigarum suarum

4. And he gloried as a mighty one in the force of his army and in the glory of his chariots.

5. anno igitur duodecimo regni sui Nabuchodonosor rex Assyriorum qui regnabat in Nineven civitatem magnam pugnavit contra Arfaxat et obtinuit eum

5. Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive the great city, fought against Arphaxad and overcame him,

6. in campo magno qui appellatur Ragau circa Eufraten et Tigrin et Hyadas in campo Erioch regis Elicorum

6. In the great plain which is called Ragua, about the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and the Jadason, in the plain of Erioch the king of the Elicians.

7. tunc exaltatum est regnum Nabuchodonosor et cor ejus elatum est et misit ad omnes qui habitabant in Cilicia et Damasco et Libano

7. Then was the kingdom of Nabuchodonosor exalted, and his heart was elevated: and he sent to all that dwelt in Cilicia and Damascus, and Libanus,

8. et ad gentes quæ sunt in Carmelo et Cedar et inhabitantes Galileam in campo magno Hesdrælon

8. And to the nations that are in Carmelus, and Cedar, and to the inhabitants of Galilee in the great plain of Asdrelon,

9. et ad omnes qui erant in Samaria et trans flumen Jordanem usque Hierusalem et omnem terram Jesse quousque perveniatur ad montes Æthiopiæ

9. And to all that were in Samaria, and beyond the river Jordan even to Jerusalem, and all the land of Jesse till you come to the borders of Ethiopia.

10. ad hos omnes misit nuntios Nabuchodonosor rex Assyriorum

10. To all these Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, sent messengers:

11. qui omnes uno animo contradixerunt et remiserunt eos vacuos ac sine honore abiecerunt

11. But they all with one mind refused, and sent them back empty, and rejected them without honour.

12. tunc indignatus est Nabuchodonosor rex ad omnem terram illam et juravit per regnum et thronum suum quod defenderet se de omnibus regionibus his

12. Then king Nabuchodonosor being angry against all that land, swore by his throne and kingdom that he would revenge himself of all those countries.