20 Holofernes had more troops than could be counted; they were like a swarm of locusts or like grains of sand on the seashore.
21 They left Nineveh, and after they had marched three days, they reached the valley around the city of Bectileth, where they set up camp across from the city, near the mountains north of Cilicia.
22 From there, Holofernes led his entire army of soldiers and chariots into the foothills.
23 He completely destroyed the nations of Libya and Lydia, then took everything from the Rassisites and the Ishmaelites living on the edge of the desert south of Chellean.
24 Holofernes and his army crossed the Euphrates River and marched through Mesopotamia, destroying every walled city along the Abron River, as far as the Mediterranean Sea.
25 He took over the territory of Cilicia, killing everyone who tried to resist him. Then he went as far as the southern border of Japheth, near Arabia.
26 After his army had surrounded the Midianites, he burned down their tents and slaughtered their sheep.