Judith:2

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* And in the eighteenth year , the two and twentieth day of the first month , there was talk in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians that he should , as he said , avenge himself on all the earth . * So he called unto him all his officers , and all his nobles , and communicated with them his secret counsel , and concluded the afflicting of the whole earth out of his own mouth . * Then they decreed to destroy all flesh , that did not obey the commandment of his mouth . * And when he had ended his counsel , Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army , which was next unto him , and said unto him . * Thus saith the great king , the lord of the whole earth , Behold , thou shalt go forth from my presence , and take with thee men that trust in their own strength , of footmen an hundred and twenty thousand ; and the number of horses with their riders twelve thousand . * And thou shalt go against all the west country , because they disobeyed my commandment . * And thou shalt declare unto that they prepare for me earth and water : for I will go forth in my wrath against them and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of mine army , and I will give them for a spoil unto them : * So that their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks and the river shall be filled with their dead , till it overflow : * And I will lead them captives to the utmost parts of all the earth . * Thou therefore shalt go forth . and take beforehand for me all their coasts : and if they will yield themselves unto thee , thou shalt reserve them for me till the day of their punishment . * But concerning them that rebel , let not thine eye spare them ; but put them to the slaughter , and spoil them wheresoever thou goest . * For as I live , and by the power of my kingdom , whatsoever I have spoken , that will I do by mine hand . * And take thou heed that thou transgress none of the commandments of thy lord , but accomplish them fully , as I have commanded thee , and defer not to do them . * Then Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord , and called ail the governors and captains , and the officers of the army of Assur ; * And he mustered the chosen men for the battle , as his lord had commanded him , unto an hundred and twenty thousand , and twelve thousand archers on horseback ; * And he ranged them , as a great army is ordered for the war . * And he took camels and asses for their carriages , a very great number ; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision : * And plenty of victual for every man of the army , and very much gold and silver out of the king 's house . * Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage , and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots , and horsemen , and their chosen footmen . * A great number also sundry countries came with them like locusts , and like the sand of the earth : for the multitude was without number . * And they went forth of Nineve three days ' journey toward the plain of Bectileth , and pitched from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia . * Then he took all his army , his footmen , and horsemen and chariots , and went from thence into the hill country ; * And destroyed Phud and Lud , and spoiled all the children of Rasses , and the children of Israel , which were toward the wilderness at the south of the land of the Chellians . * Then he went over Euphrates , and went through Mesopotamia , and destroyed all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai , till ye come to the sea . * And he took the borders of Cilicia , and killed all that resisted him , and came to the borders of Japheth , which were toward the south , over against Arabia . * He compassed also all the children of Madian , and burned up their tabernacles , and spoiled their sheepcotes . * Then he went down into the plain of Damascus in the time of wheat harvest , and burnt up all their fields , and destroyed their flocks and herds , also he spoiled their cities , and utterly wasted their countries , and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword . * Therefore the fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the sea coasts , which were in Sidon and Tyrus , and them that dwelt in Sur and Ocina , and all that dwelt in Jemnaan ; and they that dwelt in Azotus and Ascalon feared him greatly .

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