|
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 cheep, 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 tumbrels, 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.
|
1- حينئذ انفذ اليه جميع ملوك و
رؤساء المدن و الاقاليم رسلهم من سورية التي بين النهرين و سورية صوبال و لوبية
و قيليقية فاتوا اليفانا و قالوا له.
2- ليكف غضبك عنا فخير ان نحيا عبيدا لنبوكد
نصر الملك العظيم و ندين لك من ان نموت و نخرب و نتحمل خسف العبودية.
3- و هذه مدائننا باسرها و جميع ما نملكه و
جبالنا و هضابنا و حقولنا و مواشينا من اصورة البقر و قطعان الغنم و المعز و
الخيل و الابل و جميع مقتنانا و عيالنا بين يديك.
4- جميع ما هو لنا تحت امرك.
5- و نحن و بنونا عبيد لك.
6- فكن في قدومك علينا مولى سلام
و استخدمنا بما يحسن عندك.
7- حينئذ انحدر من الجبال مع الفرسان بقوة
عظيمة و استولى على جميع المدن و كل سكان الارض.
8- و اخذ من جميع المدن انصارا له من ذوي
الباس و مختارين للحرب.
9- فحل على جميع تلك البلدان خوف عظيم حتى خرج
للقائه سكان جميع المدن الرؤساء و الاشراف مع شعوبهم.
10- و استقبلوه بالاكاليل و المصابيح راقصين
بالطبول و النايات.
11- و لا بصنعهم هذا امكنهم ان يلينوا قساوة
قلبه.
12- فانه دمر مدنهم و قطع غاباتهم.
13- لان نبوكد نصر الملك كان قد
امره ان يبيد جميع الهة الارض حتى يدعى هو وحده الها بين جميع تلك الامم التي
تدين له بسطوة اليفانا.
14- ثم عبر سورية صوبال و بامية كلها و جميع
ما بين النهرين و اتى الادوميين في ارض جبع.
15- و اخذ مدائنهم و اقام هناك
ثلاثين يوما امر فيها ان تجمع كل قوة جيشه
|