1And in the eighteenth yeere, the two and twentieth day of the first moneth, there was talke in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he should auenge himselfe on al ye earth, as he had spoken. 2So he called vnto him all his officers and al his nobles, and communicated with them his secrete counsell, and set before them with his owne mouth all the malice of the earth. 3Then they decreed to destroy all flesh, that had not obeyed the commandement of his mouth. 4And when hee had ended his counsell, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Olofernes his chiefe captaine, and which was next vnto him, and sayde vnto him, 5Thus saith the great king, the Lorde of the whole earth, Behold, thou shalt goe forth from my presence, and take with thee men that trust in their owne strength, of footemen, an hundreth & twentie thousande, and the number of horses with their riders, twelue thousand, 6And thou shalt go against all the West countrey, because they disobeyed my commandement. 7And thou shalt declare vnto them, that they prepare for me the land and the water: for I wil goe forth in my wrath against them, and will couer the whole face of the earth with the feete of mine armie, and I will giue them as a spoyle vnto them, 8So that their wounded shall fill their valleyes, and their riuers, and the flood shall ouerflowe, being filled with their dead. 9And I will bring their captiuitie to the vtmost parts of all the earth. 10Thou therefore shalt depart hence, and take vp for me all their countrey: and if they yeeld vnto thee, thou shalt reserue them for mee vntill the day that I rebuke them. 11But concerning them that rebell, let not thine eye spare them, but put them to death, and spoyle them wheresoeuer thou goest. 12For as I liue, & the power of my kingdome, whatsoeuer I haue spoken, that will I doe by mine hande. 13And take thou heede that thou transgresse not any of the commandements of thy lorde, but accomplish them fully, as I haue commanded thee, and deferre not to do them. 14Then Olofernes went forth from the presence of his Lord, & called all the gouernours, and captaines, and officers of the armie of Assur, 15And he mustred the chosen men for the battel, as his Lord had commanded him, vnto an hundreth and twentie thousand, and twelue thousande archers on horsebacke. 16And he set the in aray according to the maner of setting a great armie in aray. 17And hee tooke camels & asses for their burdens, a very great number, and sheepe, and oxen, and goates without number for their prouision, 18And vitaile for euery man of the army, and very much gold and siluer out of the kings house. 19Then he went forth and all his power, to goe before in the viage of king Nabuchodonosor, & to couer all the face of the earth Westward, with their charets, and horsemen, and chosen footemen. 20A great multitude also of sundry sorts came with them like grashoppers, and like the grauell of the earth: for the multitude was without number. 21And they went forth of Nineue three dayes iourney toward the countrey of Bectileth, and pitched from Bectileth neere the mountaine which is at the left hand of the vpper Cilicia. 22Then hee tooke all his armie, his footemen and horsemen, and charets, and went from thence into the mountaines, 23And he destroied Phud and Lud, and spoiled all the children of Rasses, and the children of Ismael, which were toward the wildernesse at the South of the Chelians. 24Then hee went ouer Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and destroyed al the hie cities that were vpon the riuer of Arbonai, vntill one come to the sea. 25And he tooke the borders of Cilicia, and destroyed all that resisted him, and came to the borders of Iapheth, which were toward the South and ouer against Arabia. 26He compassed also all the children of Madian, and burnt vp their tabernacles, and spoiled their lodges. 27Then hee went downe into the countrey of Damascus, in the time of wheate haruest, and burnt vp all their fieldes, and destroyed their flockes and the heards: he robbed their cities, and spoyled their countrey, and smote all their yong men with the edge of the sword. 28Therefore feare and trembling fell vpon all the inhabitants of the sea coast, which were in Sidon and Tyrus, and them that dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and all that dwelt in Iemnaan: and they that dwelt in Azotus, and Ascalon feared him greatly.