14. So Holofernes left the presence of his lord, and summoned all the commanders, generals, and officers of the Assyrian forces.
15. He mustered one hundred and twenty thousand picked troops, as his lord had commanded, and twelve thousand mounted archers,
16. and drew them up as a vast force organized for battle.
17. He took along a very large number of camels, donkeys, and mules for carrying their supplies; innumerable sheep, cattle, and goats for their food;
18. abundant provisions for each man, and much gold and silver from the royal palace.
19. Then he and all his forces set out on their expedition in advance of King Nebuchadnezzar, to overrun all the lands of the western region with their chariots, cavalry, and picked infantry.
20. A huge, irregular force, too many to count, like locusts, like the dust of the earth, went along with them.
21. After a three-day march from Nineveh, they reached the plain of Bectileth, and camped opposite Bectileth near the mountains to the north of Upper Cilicia.
22. From there Holofernes took all his forces, the infantry, cavalry, and chariots, and marched into the hill country.
23. He devastated Put and Lud, and plundered all the Rassisites and the Ishmaelites on the border of the wilderness toward the south of the Chelleans.