Judith
Chapter 2
1 In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was a discussion in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, about taking revenge on the whole world, as he had threatened.
十八年正月二十二日，在亚述王拿步高宫内，举行会议，商讨如何依照王的吩咐，向各国复仇雪恨之事。
2 He summoned all his ministers and nobles, laid before them his secret plan, and urged the total destruction of those countries.
君王召集了所有的臣仆和公卿，向他们说明自己暗怀的心愿，决意亲口下令灭绝那些国家；
3 They decided to do away with all those who had refused to comply with the order he had issued.
大家一致表决，凡不听从君王号召的人，都应铲除。
4 When he had completed his plan, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, summoned Holofernes, general in chief of his forces, second to himself in command, and said to him:
开会议决后，亚述王拿步高就将他的总司令，兼居全国次位的敖罗斐乃召来，对他说：
5＂Thus says the great king, the lord of all the earth: Go forth from my presence, take with you men of proven valor, a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry,
“大王，全世界之主这样说：看，你应离我出征，率领骁勇善战的人，步兵十二万，一万二千战马及骑士，
6 and proceed against all the land of the West, because they did not comply with the order I issued.
去攻打西方各国，因为他们没有听从我的命令；
7 1 Tell them to have earth and water ready, for I will come against them in my wrath; I will cover all the land with the feet of my soldiers, to whom I will deliver them as spoils.
通知他们准备好山河，因为我要满怀盛怒来攻打他们，以我军的脚掌，遮遍他们的地面，使他们遭受浩劫，
8 Their slain shall fill their ravines and wadies, the swelling torrent shall be choked with their dead;
使伤者填满沟壑，死者充塞江河，致使河水泛滥。
9 and I will deport them as exiles to the very ends of the earth.
将他们的俘虏，放逐到大地四极。
10＂You go before me and take possession of all their territories for me. If they surrender to you, guard them for me till the day of their punishment.
今你出征，首先代我占据那一切的领土；如果人自愿向你请降，你就给我保留，等惩治他们的日子来到。
11 As for those who resist, show them no quarter, but deliver them up to slaughter and plunder in each country you occupy.
对不投降的，你的眼不用顾惜，在你占领区内，任人屠杀抢掠。
12 2 For as I live, and by the strength of my kingdom, what I have spoken I will accomplish by my power.
我既以我的性命作担保，以帝国的权威下令，也必亲手执行。
13 Do not disobey a single one of the orders of your lord; fulfill them exactly as I have commanded you, and do it without delay."
至于你，不可违犯你主上的任何命令，但应照我吩咐你的，尽心办理，切勿怠慢！”
14 So Holofernes left the presence of his lord, and summoned all the princes, and the generals and officers of the Assyrian army.
敖罗斐乃辞别主上出来，就召集亚述的众将领、司令和武官，
15 He mustered a hundred and twenty thousand picked troops, as his lord had commanded, and twelve thousand mounted archers,
依照主上的命令，数点了出征的精兵，约十二万人，骑兵射手一万二千，
16 and grouped them into a complete combat force.
将他们分编成为作战的部队。
17 He took along a very large number of camels, asses, and mules for their baggage; innumerable sheep, cattle, and goats for their food supply;
后又牵来许多骆驼驴骡，载运辎重，赶来无数的绵羊、牛和山羊，充当军需；
18 abundant provisions for each man, and much gold and silver from the royal palace.
又给众人分发了大批给养，再由王库，支取了大批的金银，
19 Then he and his whole army proceeded on their expedition in advance of King Nebuchadnezzar, to cover all the western region with their chariots and cavalry and regular infantry.
然后率领大军出发，作拿步高王的先锋，以战车马队和精兵，遮蔽西方的地面。
20 A huge, irregular force, too many to count, like locusts or the dust of the earth, went along with them.
另有很多混合的军人，多得如蝗虫尘沙，也跟随出征，人数众多，无法统计。
21 After a three-day march from Nineveh, they reached the plain of Bectileth, and from Bectileth they next encamped near the mountains to the north of Upper Cilicia.
他们出了尼尼微城，行军三日，到了贝克提肋特平原，便靠近贝克提肋特，在上基里基雅北边的山岭安营。
22 From there Holofernes took his whole force, the infantry, cavalry, and chariots, and marched into the mountain region.
敖罗斐乃后又率领大军：步兵、骑兵、战车，由那里往山地进发，
23 3 He devastated Put and Lud, and plundered all the Rassisites and the Ishmaelites on the border of the desert toward the south of Chaldea.
击败了普特和路得，掠夺了辣息斯的众子民，以及住在赫肋人以南的旷野对面的依市玛耳子民。
24 Then, following the Euphrates, he went through Mesopotamia, and battered down every fortified city along the Wadi Abron, until he reached the sea.
渡过幼发拉的河，穿过美索不达米亚，破坏了沿哈波尔河至海一带的坚城。
25 He seized the territory of Cilicia, and cut down everyone who resisted him. Then he proceeded to the southern borders of Japheth, toward Arabia.
以后占领了基里基雅的地方，粉碎一切抵抗，来到位于阿刺伯对面南部的雅敖斐特边境，
26 He surrounded all the Midianites, burned their tents, and plundered their sheepfolds.
围攻了米德杨的众子民，焚毁了他们的帐幕，劫夺了他们的羊圈。
27 Descending to the plain of Damascus at the time of the wheat harvest, he set fire to all their fields, destroyed their flocks and herds, despoiled their cities, devastated their plains, and put all their youths to the sword.
到了收割麦子的时候，便下到大马士革平原，放火烧田，搜杀牛羊，劫掠城市，破坏庄田，斩杀青年。
28 The fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the coastland, upon those in Sidon and Tyre, and those who dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and the inhabitants of Jamnia. Those in Azotus and Ascalon also feared him greatly.
因此凡住在海边、漆冬提洛、稣尔、敖基纳雅木尼雅的人都战兢害怕，阿左托及阿市刻隆各地的居民对他更是万分害怕恐惧。
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Footnotes（注解）
1 [7] Earth and water: in the Persian period, the offering of these to a conqueror was a symbolic gesture of unconditional surrender.
2 [12] As I live: in the Old Testament, an oath proper to divinity; cf Deut 32:40. Nebuchadnezzar is making himself equal to God; see Judith 6:2. By my power: literally＂by my hand." The hand of Nebuchadnezzar raised in opposition to God and to his people is the occasion for Judith's intervention by a woman's hand; cf Judith 9:9, 10; Isaiah 10:5-14.
3 [23] Put and Lud: the same as the＂Put and Lud" mentioned in Ezekiel 30:5 as allies of Egypt, and in Ezekiel 27:10 as supplying mercenary soldiers to Tyre. Here they seem inserted to embellish the narrative with assonance and prophetic associations rather than to indicate definite localities.