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1 In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, the two and twentieth day of the first
month, the word was given out in the house of Nabuchodonosor
king of the Assyrians, that he would revenge himself.
2 And he called all the ancients, and all the
governors, and his officers of war, and communicated to them the secret of
his counsel:
3 And he said that his thoughts were to
bring all the earth under his empire.
4 And when this saying pleased them all, Nabuchodonosor, the king, called Holofernes
the general of his armies,
5 And said to him: Go out against all the
kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that despised my
commandment.
6 Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and
all the strong cities thou shalt bring under my
yoke.
7 Then Holofernes
called the captains and officers of the power of the Assyrians: and he
mustered men for the expedition, as the king commanded him, a hundred and
twenty thousand fighting men on foot, and twelve thousand archers, horsemen.
8 And he made all his warlike preparations to
go before with a multitude of innumerable camels, with all provisions
sufficient for the armies in abundance, and herds of oxen, and flocks of
sheep, without number.
9 He appointed corn to be prepared out of
all Syria in his passage.
10 But gold and silver he took out of the
king's house in great abundance.
11 And he went forth he and all the army, with
the chariots, and horsemen, and archers, who covered the face of the earth,
like locusts.
12 And when he had passed through the borders
of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange,
which are on the left of Cilicia: and he went up to all their castles, and
took all the strong places.
13 And he took by assault the renowned city of
Melothus, and pillaged all the children of Tharsis, and the children of Ismahel,
who were over against the face of the desert, and on the south of the land of
Cellon.
14 And he passed over the Euphrates and came
into Mesopotamia: and he forced all the stately cities that were there, from
the torrent of Mambre, till one comes to the sea:
15 And he took the borders thereof from
Cilicia to the coasts of Japheth, which are towards the south.
16 And he carried away all the children of Madian, and stripped them of all their riches, and all
that resisted him he slew with the edge of the sword.
17 And after these things he went down into
the plains of Damascus in the days of the harvest, and he set all the corn on
fire, and he caused all the trees and vineyards to be cut down
18 And the fear of them fell upon alit the
inhabitants of the land.
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1- و في السنة الثالثة عشرة
لنبوكد نصر و في اليوم الثاني و العشرين من الشهر الاول تمت الكلمة في بيت نبوكد
نصر ملك اشور بالانتقام.
2- فدعا جميع الشيوخ و كل قواده و رجال حربه و
واضعهم مشورة سرية.
3- و قال لهم ان في نفسه ان يخضع كل الارض
لملكه.
4- و اذ حسن ذلك لدى الجميع استدعى نبوكد نصر
الملك اليفانا قائد جيشه.
5- و قال له اخرج على جميع ممالك الغرب و
خصوصا الذين استهانوا باوامري.
6- و لا تشفق عينك على مملكة ما و اخضع لي
جميع المدن المحصنة.
7- فدعا اليفانا القواد و عظماء جيش اشور و
احصى عدد رجال الحرب كما امره الملك مئة و عشرين الف راجل مقاتلين و اثني عشر
الف فارس ارباب قسي.
8- و سير امام جيوشه عددا لا يحصى من الجمال
بما يكفي الجيش بكثرة و من اصورة البقر و قطعان الغنم ما لا يحصى.
9- و امر ان تجمع الحنطة من كل سورية عند
عبوره.
10- و اخذ من بيت الملك من الذهب
و الفضة شيئا كثيرا جدا.
11- ثم ارتحل بجميع جيشه و مراكبه و فرسانه و
ارباب القسي و كانوا يغطون وجه الارض كالجراد.
12- فلما جاوز تخوم اشور انتهى
الى جبال انجة العظيمة التي الى يسار قيليقية و زحف على جميع قلاعهم و تسلم كل
الحصون.
13- و فتح مدينة ملوطة المشهورة و نهب جميع
بني ترشيش و بني اسماعيل الذين حيال البرية و جهة جنوب ارض كلون.
14- ثم عبر الفرات و اتى الى ما بين النهرين و
قهر جميع ما هناك من المدن المشيدة من وادي ممرا الى حد البحر.
15- و استولى على حدودها من قيليقية الى تخوم
يافث التي الى الجنوب.
16- و اسر جميع بني مدين و غنم كل ثروتهم و كل
من قاومهم قتله بحد السيف.
17- و بعد ذلك انحدر الى صحاري دمشق في ايام
الحصاد و احرق جميع حقولهم و قطع كل اشجارهم و كرومهم.
18- فوقع رعبه على جميع سكان الارض
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