Judith 3 - King James Version with Apocrypha - American Edition

¹ So they sent ambassadors unto him to treat of peace, saying,

² Behold, we the servants of Nebuchadnez´zar the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.

³ Behold, our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents, lie before thy face; use them as it pleaseth thee.

⁴ Behold, even our cities and the inhabitants thereof are thy servants; come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.

⁵ So the men came to Holofer´nes, and declared unto him after this manner.

⁶ Then came he down toward the sea coast, both he and his army, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for aid.

⁷ So they and all the country round about received them with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels.

⁸ Yet he did cast down their frontiers, and cut down their groves: for he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nebuchadnez´zar only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god.

Holofernes Invades the Land of Israel

⁹ Also he came over against Esdra-e´lon near unto Judah, over against the great strait of Judah.

¹⁰ And he pitched between Geba and Scythop´olis, and there he tarried a whole month, that he might gather together all the carriages of his army.