Complete Works of Saint Jerome, Vol. X

as the king commanded him, one hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and twelve thousand horsemen and archers. And he made all his expedition to go before him with a multitude of innumerable camels, with those that would sufficiently provide for the armies, and also herds of oxen and flocks of sheep, of which there was no number. He ordained that corn should be prepared from all of Syria on his passage. Much gold and silver he took from the house of the king. And he set out, he and all his army, with chariots, and horsemen, and archers who covered the face of the earth like locusts. 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 ascended all their castles, and took every fortress. He broke down the most renowned city of Melothi, and plundered all the children of Tharsis, and the children of Ismael alt: Israel, who were over against the face of the desert, and to the south of the land of Cellon. And he crossed the Euphrates, and came into Mesopotamia: and he broke all the high cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre until one reaches the sea: and he occupied its borders, from Cilicia to the borders of Japheth, which are to the south. And he led away all the children of Madian, and plundered all their wealth, and killed all who resisted him by the edge of the sword. And after these things, he descended into the plains of Damascus in the days of the harvest, and he set fire to all the crops, and caused all the trees and vineyards to be cut down: and the fear of him fell upon all who inhabited the land.

[Chap. III.] Then the kings and princes of all the cities and provinces, namely of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal alt: Syrians of Sobal, and Libya and Cilicia, sent their messengers, who, coming to Holofernes, said: Let your indignation cease toward us; for it is better that we live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to you, than that we die and suffer the losses of our servitude with our own destruction. All our city, and all our possession, all the mountains, and hills, and plains, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep and goats, and of horses and camels, and all our resources, and families, are in your sight: let all that is ours be under your law. We and our children are your servants. Come to us as a peaceful lord, and use our service as it shall please you.

Then he descended from the mountains with horsemen in great power, and took every city, and every inhabitant of the land. And from all the cities, he took for himself auxiliary men, strong and chosen for war. And such fear fell upon those provinces

that the inhabitants of all the cities, the princes and honorable men, together with the people, went out to meet him as he came, receiving him with crowns and lamps, leading dances with drums and flutes. Yet even doing these things, they could not mitigate the ferocity of his heart: for he destroyed their cities, and cut down their sacred groves. For King Nabuchodonosor had commanded him that he should exterminate all the gods of the earth, so that he alone might be called God by those nations which could be subjugated by the power of Holofernes. Passing through Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans in the land of Gabaa, and took their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, during which days he ordered his entire army of power to be gathered.

[Chap. IV.] Then the children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Juda, hearing these things, feared exceedingly for his sake. Trembling and horror took possession of their senses, lest he should do to Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord what he had done to the other cities and their temples. And they sent into all Samaria round about as far as Jericho, and they seized all the tops of the mountains: and they surrounded their villages with walls, and gathered corn in preparation for war.

The priest Eliacim also wrote to all who were over against Esdrelon, which is over against the face of the great plain near Dothain, and to all through whom the ways of passage might be, that they should take the ascents of the mountains, by which there might be a way to Jerusalem, and that they should guard there where there might be a narrow path between the mountains.

And the children of Israel did according to what Eliacim, the priest of the Lord, had ordained for them. And all the people cried to the Lord with great intensity, and they humbled their souls in fastings and prayers, they and their women. And the priests put on sackcloth, and they prostrated the infants before the face of the temple of the Lord, and they covered the altar of the Lord with sackcloth, and they cried to the Lord the God of Israel unanimously, that their infants might not be given for a prey, and their wives for a division, and their cities for destruction, and their holy things for pollution, and that they might become a reproach to the nations.

Then Eliacim, the great priest of the Lord, went around all Israel, and spoke to them, saying: Know that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you remain steadfast in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord. Be mindful of Moses, the servant of the Lord, who, when Amalec trusted in his own virtue, and in his own power, and in his own army, and

1 Palatine codex: And horsemen archers, who, a little later, omitting the word "innumerable," reads "in a multitude of camels."

2 Queen’s manuscript: To the South land and Cæleon: Palatine: and South of the land and Celeon.
3 In Palatine ms: caused to be set on fire, instead of cut down.
4 The same ms. is silent on the pronoun "our": then it reads, "We now and our children, etc."
5 The same ms. omits the words "and flutes."
6 The same ms. again is silent on the words and prayers.
7 Here also the words God of Israel, the same ms. does not acknowledge.
8 This clause, and they might become a reproach to the nations, is found in none of our manuscripts. The Palatine only has it in the plural number, in pollutions.
9 Queen’s ms. is silent on this other clause, "and in his own army."