Judith 2

Bishops^{(i) 1} In the thirtenth yere of king Nabuchodonosor, vpon the twentie & two day of the firste moneth, it was deuised in the court of Nabuchodonosor the king of the Assyrians that he woulde reuenge him selfe. ² So he called vnto him all the elders, all his captaynes and men of warre, and shewed them his secret counsell, ³ And told them that his purpose was to bring the whole earth vnder his dominion. ⁴ Now when they were all content with this saying, Nabuchodonosor the king called Holophernes the chiefe captayne of his warres, ⁵ And sayde vnto him: Go thy way foorth against all the kingdomes of the west, and specially against those that haue despised my commaundement. ⁶ Thou shalt spare no realme, all strong cities shalt thou bring in subiection vnto me. ⁷ Then Holophernes called together all the captaynes & rulers of all the power in Assyria, and mustred the souldiers vnto the hoast like as the king commaunded him [namely] an hundred and twentie thousande fighting men vpon foote, and twelue thousande archers vpon horsebacke. ⁸ All his ordinaunce sent he before with an innumerable multitude of camels, so that the hoast was well prouided for with oxen and small cattell, & that without number. ⁹ He appoynted to prepare corne out of all Syria in his passage. ¹⁰ Much gold an siluer also toke he out of the kinges house. ¹¹ So he toke his iourney and all his hoast, with charets, horsemen, and archers: of whom there were so many that they couered the ground of the land like the grashoppers. ¹² And when he was gone past the borders of the Assyrians, he came towarde the great mountaynes of Ange, whiche lye vpon the left side of Cilicia: and so he went vp into all their castels, and wunne euery strong holde. ¹³ As for the welthie citie of Melothus, he brake it downe, & spoyled all the children of Tharsis and the Ismaelites, whiche lay towarde the wildernesse and vpon the south side of the lande of Chellon. ¹⁴ He went ouer Euphrates also, & came into Mesopotamia, and brake downe all the hie cities that were there, from the brooke of Mambre till a man come to the sea: ¹⁵ And he toke the borders in from Cilicia vnto the coastes of Iaphet towarde the south. ¹⁶ He caryed away all the Madianites, and spoyled al their goods, and whosoeuer withstoode him he slue them with the sworde. ¹⁷ After this, he went downe into the fielde of Damascus in the time of haruest, and burnt vp all the corne, and all the trees and vines he caused to be cut downe: ¹⁸ And the feare of him fel vpon all them that dwelt on the earth.