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2:1  In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was a conference in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, about following through on his threat of vengeance against the entire region.
2:2  Summoning all of his ministers and nobles, he outlined to them his secret plan and asserted his determination to effect the total destruction of that entire area.
2:3  They then decreed that all those who had not responded to the king’s summons were to be put to death.
2:4  When he had completed his plan, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, summoned Holofernes, the highest-ranking general in his army, and second only to him in power, and he said to him,
2:5  “Thus says the great king, the lord of all the earth: ‘Go forth from my presence and take with you men of unquestioned valor, one hundred and twenty thousand infantrymen and twelve thousand cavalry.
2:6  March against all the peoples of the west because they refused to comply with my command.
2:7  Advise them to have earth and water ready, for I am moving against them in my wrath and I will cover the entire extent of their territory with the feet of my soldiers, to whom I will deliver them to be plundered.
2:8  Their wounded will fill their ravines and wadis, and all of their rivers will be choked to overflowing with their dead.
2:9  I will send them away as exiles to the ends of the earth.
2:10  “ ‘Therefore, go ahead of me and seize all of their territory for me. Should they surrender to you, hold them for me until the time comes for their punishment.
2:11  As for those who resist, show them no mercy, but hand them over to slaughter and plunder throughout the entire region.
2:12  For as I live, and by my royal authority, what I have spoken I will accomplish by my power.
2:13  Be careful not to disobey a single word of your lord, but carry out fully what I have commanded you—and do so without delay.’ ”
2:14  Leaving the presence of his lord, Holofernes summoned all the commanders, generals, and officers of the Assyrian army.
2:15  In compliance with the orders of his lord, he mustered one hundred and twenty thousand picked troops and twelve thousand mounted archers,
2:16  and he organized them in the regular battle formation.
2:17  He took along a vast number of camels, donkeys, and mules to transport the baggage, and innumerable sheep, oxen, and goats for their food supply,
2:18  as well as ample rations for every man, and a great amount of gold and silver from the royal palace.