Submission of the Vassal Nations. 1So they sent messengers to him to sue for peace in these words: 2“We, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the great king, lie prostrate before you; do with us as you will. 3See, our dwellings and all our land and every wheat field, our flocks and herds, and all our encampments are at your disposal; make use of them as you please. 4Our cities and their inhabitants are also at your service; come and deal with them as you see fit.”

5After the spokesmen had reached Holofernes and given him this message, 6he went down with his forces to the seacoast, stationed garrisons in the fortified cities, and took selected men from them as auxiliaries.

31He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.” 32But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.

The Greatest in the Kingdom.^* 33They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”ⁱ 34But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 35Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”^j 36Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, 37“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”^k