2:3. And he said that his thoughts were to bring all the earth under his empire.
2:4. And when this saying pleased them all, Nabuchodonosor, the king, called Holofernes the general of his armies,
2:5. And said to him: Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that despised my commandment.
2:6. Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and all the strong cities thou shalt bring under my yoke.
2:7. Then Holofernes called the captains, and officers of the power of the Assyrians: and he mustered men for the expedition, and the king commanded him, a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men on foot, and twelve thousand archers, horsemen.
2:8. 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.
2:9. He appointed corn to be prepared out of all Syria in his passage.
2:10. But gold and silver he took out of the king's house in great abundance.
2:11. 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.
2:12. 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.