27 And he went down to the plain of Damascus, at the time of the wheat harvest, and burned all their fields, and gave up their flocks of sheep and oxen to be destroyed, and plundered their cities, and laid waste their fields, and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword.

28 Fear and terror came upon the inhabitants of the seaside country who dwelt in Sidon and Tyre, and upon the inhabitants of Sur and Okina, and upon all the inhabitants of Iemnaan, and all the inhabitants of Ashdod and Ascalon were greatly frightened by it.

Chapter 3

1 And they sent messengers to him with this peace proposal:

2 behold, we, servants of the great king Nebuchadnezzar, prostrate ourselves before thee: do unto us what thou wilt.

3 Behold, before thee, both our villages, and all our places, and all the fields of wheat, and the flocks of sheep and oxen, and all the buildings of our dwellings: use them as thou wilt.

4 Behold, our cities, and those that dwell in them, are thy servants: go and deal with them as thine eyes please.

5 And men came to Holofernes, and told him these words.

6 Then he came into the country of the sea, with his army, and surrounded the high cities with guards, and took of them the choice men to be his companions.

7 And they, and all their neighbourhood, received him with wreaths, faces, and tympanums.

8 And he laid waste all their high places, and cut down their groves: he was commanded to destroy all the gods of the land, that all the nations might serve Nebuchadnezzar alone, and all the tongues and all their families should call upon him as God.

9 And when he came to Esdraelon by Dotea, which lies against the great gorge of Judah,

10 and he encamped between Hawaii and the city of the Scythians, and remained there for a whole month, in order to assemble the whole baggage of his army.

Chapter 4