Judith, 3

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:

1. καὶ ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγγέλους λόγοις εἰρηνικοῖς λέγοντες

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.

2. ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς οἱ παῖδες Ναβουχοδονοσορ βασιλέως μεγάλου παρακείμεθα ἐνώπιόν σου χρῆσαι ἡμῖν καθὼς ἀρεστόν ἐστιν τῷ προσώπῳ σου

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:

3. ἰδοὺ αἱ ἐπαύλεις ἡμῶν καὶ πᾶς τόπος ἡμῶν καὶ πᾶν πεδίον πυρῶν καὶ τὰ ποίμνια καὶ τὰ βουκόλια καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ μάνδραι τῶν σκηνῶν ἡμῶν παράκεινται πρὸ προσώπου σου χρῆσαι καθὸ ἂν ἀρέσκῃ σοι

4. Let all we have be subject to thy law.

4. ἰδοὺ καὶ αἱ πόλεις ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐταῖς δοῦλοι σοί εἰσιν ἐλθὼν ἀπάντησον αὐταῖς ὡς ἔστιν ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου

5. Both we and our children are thy servants.

5. καὶ παρεγένοντο οἱ ἄνδρες πρὸς Ολοφέρνην καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα

6. Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee.

6. καὶ κατέβη ἐπὶ τὴν παραλίαν αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐφρούρωσε τὰς πόλεις τὰς ὑψηλὰς καὶ ἔλαβεν ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς συμμαχίαν ἄνδρας ἐπιλέκτους

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.

7. καὶ ἐδέξαντο αὐτὸν αὐτοὶ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ περίχωρος αὐτῶν μετὰ στεφάνων καὶ χορῶν καὶ τυμπάνων

8. And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war.

8. καὶ κατέσκαψεν πάντα τὰ ὅρια αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἄλση αὐτῶν ἐξέκοψεν καὶ ἦν δεδομένον αὐτῷ ἐξολεθρεῦσαι πάντας τοὺς θεοὺς τῆς γῆς ὅπως αὐτῷ μόνῳ τῷ Ναβουχοδονοσορ λατρεύσωσι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ γλῶσσαι καὶ αἱ φυλαὶ αὐτῶν ἐπικαλέσωνται αὐτὸν εἰς θεόν

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.

9. καὶ ἦλθεν κατὰ πρόσωπον Εσδρηλων πλησίον τῆς Δωταιας ἥ ἐστιν ἀπέναντι τοῦ πρίονος τοῦ μεγάλου τῆς Ιουδαίας

10. And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and tumbrels, and flutes.

10. καὶ κατεστρατοπέδευσαν ἀνὰ μέσον Γαιβαι καὶ Σκυθῶν πόλεως καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ μῆνα ἡμερῶν εἰς τὸ συλλέξαι πᾶσαν τὴν ἀπαρτίαν τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ

11. And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:

11.

12. For he both destroyed their cities and cut down their groves.

12.

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.

13.

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,

14.

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.

15.