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Home > Bible > Judith > Chapter 3
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Judith Chapter 3

Many submit themselves to Holofernes. He destroys their cities, and their gods, that Nebuchadnezzer only might be called God.

English (Douay-Rheims)

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: 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. 3 All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight: 4 Let all we have be subject to thy law, 5 Both we and our children are thy servants. 6 Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee, 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. 8 And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war, 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. 10 And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and timbrels, and flutes. 11 And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart: 12 For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves. 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. 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, 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.

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Tunc miserunt legatos suos universarum urbium ac provinciarum reges ac principes, Syriæ scilicet Mesopotamiæ, et Syriæ Sobal, et Libyæ, atque Ciliciæ: qui venientes ad Holofernem, dixerunt: 2 Desinat indignatio tua circa nos: melius est enim ut viventes serviamus Nabuchodonosor regi magno, et subditi simus tibi, quam morientes cum interitu nostro ipsi servitutis nostræ damna patiamur. 3 Omnis civitas nostra, omnisque possessio, omnes montes, et colles, et campi, et armenta boum, gregesque ovium, et caprarum, equorumque et camelorum, et universæ facultates nostræ atque familiæ, in conspectu tuo sunt: 4 sint omnia nostra sub lege tua. 5 Nos, et filii nostri, servi tui sumus. 6 Veni nobis pacificus dominus, et utere servitio nostro, sicut placuerit tibi. 7 Tunc descendit de montibus cum equitibus in virtute magna, et obtinuit omnem civitatem, et omnem inhabitantem terram. 8 De universis autem urbibus assumpsit sibi auxiliarios viros fortes, et electos ad bellum. 9 Tantusque metus provinciis illis incubuit, ut universarum urbium habitatores principes et honorati simul cum populis exirent obviam venienti, 10 excipientes eum cum coronis et lampadibus, ducentes choros in tympanis et tibiis. 11 Nec ista tamen facientes, ferocitatem ejus pectoris mitigare potuerunt: 12 nam et civitates eorum destruxit, et lucos eorum excidit. 13 Præceperat enim illi Nabuchodonosor rex, ut omnes deos terræ exterminaret, videlicet ut ipse solus diceretur deus ab his nationibus quæ potuissent Holofernis potentia subjugari. 14 Pertransiens autem Syriam Sobal, et omnem Apameam, omnemque Mesopotamiam, venit ad Idumæos in terram Gabaa, 15 accepitque civitates eorum, et sedit ibi per triginta dies, in quibus diebus adunari præcepit universum exercitum virtutis suæ.

Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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