3 And they determined to destroy all those who did not obey the word of his mouth.

4 At the end of his conference, Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria called the chief captain of his army, Holofernes, who was second to him, and said to him,

5 Thus saith the great king, lord of all the earth: Behold, thou shalt go from before me, and take with thee men confident in their strength, a hundred and twenty thousand foot, and a great number of horses with twelve thousand horsemen,

6 And thou shalt go out against all the earth in the west, because ye have not obeyed the word of my mouth.

7 And thou shalt tell them to prepare land and water, for I will come out against them with wrath, and will cover all the face of the earth with the feet of my army, and will deliver them to him to be plundered.

8 The valleys and streams shall be filled with their wounded, and the river choked with their carcasses shall be overflowing;

9 And their captives I will scatter to the ends of the whole earth.

10 And thou hast gone and taken possession of all their borders for me: those which shall surrender unto thee, thou shalt keep them until the day of their chastisement;

11 But let not thy eyes spare the disobedient: thou shalt put them to death and plunder in all thy land.

12 For I live, and my kingdom is strong: whatsoever I have spoken, that I will do with my hand.

13 So do not transgress your lord's words in any way, but do without fail as I have commanded you, and do not delay in doing it.

14 And Holofernes, having gone forth from the presence of his master, summoned to him all the dignitaries, and the generals, and the captains of the army of Assyria,

15 And he counted out for battle the choice men, as his lord had commanded him, a hundred and twenty thousand, and the archers of horse, twelve thousand,

16 And he brought them into such order as an army is drawn up for battle.