Judith 1

1In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh, the great city, in the days of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana,

2And he built around Ecbatana walls of cut stone, three cubits wide and six cubits long, and he made the wall seventy cubits high and its

3its width was fifty cubits; and he set up its towers at its gates, one hundred cubits high, and he founded its breadth at sixty cubits.

4He laid its foundation to a depth of sixty cubits, and he made its gates, gates raised to a height of seventy cubits, and its width forty cubits, for the departures of the force of his mighty men and the formations of his foot soldiers.

5And in those days King Nebuchadnezzar made war against King Arphaxad in the great plain, that is, in the territory of Ragae.

6And all who lived in the hill country joined him, and all who lived along the Euphrates and the Tigris and the Hydaspes, and in the plain of Ariok king of the Elymaeans. And many nations assembled for battle with the sons of Cheleoul.

7And Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians sent to all who lived in Persia and to all who lived toward the west—to those living in Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and to all who lived along the seacoast—

8and those among the nations of Carmel and Gilead, and Upper Galilee, and the great plain of Esdraelon,

9and all those in Samaria and its cities, and beyond the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, and Batane and Chelous and Kadesh and the river of Egypt, and Taphnas and Rameses and all the land of Goshen,

10as far as Tanis and Memphis, and all those inhabiting Egypt, as far as the borders of Ethiopia.

11And all who inhabited the whole land treated the word of Nebuchodonosor king of the Assyrians with contempt, and they did not join him for the war, because they did not fear him, but he was before them like an ordinary man, and they sent his messengers back empty, in dishonor, from before him.

12And Nebuchadnezzar became very angry with all this land, and he swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would surely avenge himself on all the territories of Cilicia and Damascus and Syria, and put them to the sword—along with all who lived in Moab and the Ammonites and all Idumea and all those in Egypt—until one came to the borders of the two seas.

13And in the seventeenth year he drew up his forces for battle against King Arphaxad, and he prevailed in his war, and routed all the force of Arphaxad, all his cavalry, and all his chariots,

14And he gained control of his cities, and he came as far as Ecbatana, and he seized its towers and plundered its streets, and he turned its splendor into disgrace.

15And he captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, and overpowered him with his javelins, and destroyed him to this day.

16And he returned with them, he himself and his force, for one hundred twenty days.