1 And they sent unto him messengers with words of peace, saying, 2 Behold, we the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the great king lie before thee: use us as it is pleasing in thy sight. 3 Behold, our dwellings, and all our country, and all our fields of wheat, and our flocks and herds, and all the sheepcotes of our tents, lie before thy face: use them as it may please thee. 4 Behold, even our cities and they that dwell in them are thy servants: come and deal with them as it is good in thine eyes. 5 And the men came to Holofernes, and declared unto him according to these words.

6 And he came down toward the sea coast, he and his host, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for allies. 7 And they received him, they and all the country round about them, with garlands and dances and timbrels. 8 And he cast down all their borders, and cut down their groves: and it had been given unto him to destroy all the gods of the land, that all the nations should worship Nebuchadnezzar only, and that all their tongues and their tribes should call upon him as god. 9 And he came towards Esdraelon nigh unto Dotaea, which is over against the great ridge of Judaea. 10 And he encamped between Geba and Scythopolis, and he was there a whole month, that he might gather together all the baggage of his host.