Judith 7

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 The fol owing day Holofernes issued orders to his whole army and to the whole host of auxiliaries whohad joined him, to break camp and march on Bethulia, to occupy the mountain passes and so open thecampaign against the Israelites.	1 But Holofernes on the next day gave orders to his army, to go up against Bethulia.
2 The troops broke camp that same day. The actual fighting force numbered one hundred and twentythousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, not to mention the baggage train with the vast number of men onfoot concerned with that.	2 Now there were in his troops a hundred and twenty thousand footmen, and two and twenty thousand horsemen, besides the preparations of those men who had been taken, and who had been brought away out of the provinces and cities of all the youth.
3 They penetrated the val ey in the neighbourhood of Bethulia, near the spring, and deployed on a widefront from Dothan to Balbaim and, in depth, from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.	3 All these prepared themselves together to fight against the children of Israel, and they came by the hillside to the top, which looketh toward Dothain, from the place which is called Behlma, unto Chelmon, which is over against Esdrelon.
4 When the Israelites saw this horde, they were al appal ed and said to each other, 'Now they wil lick thewhole country clean. Not even the loftiest peaks, the gorges or the hil s wil be able to stand the weight of them.'	4 But the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, prostrated themselves upon the ground, putting ashes upon their heads, praying with one accord, that the God of Israel would shew his mercy upon his people.
5 Each man snatched up his arms; they lit beacons on their towers and spent the whole night on watch.	5 And taking their arms of war, they posted themselves at the places, which by a narrow pathway lead directly between the mountains, and they guarded them all day and night.
6 On the second day Holofernes deployed his entire cavalry in sight of the Israelites in Bethulia.	6 Now Holofernes, in going round about, found that the fountains which supplied them with water, ran through an aqueduct without the city on the south side: and he commanded their aqueduct to he cut off.
7 He reconnoitred the slopes leading up to the town, located the water-points, seized them and postedpickets over them and returned to the main body.	7 Nevertheless there were springs not far from the walls, out of which they were seen secretly to draw water, to refresh themselves a little rather than to drink their fill.
8 The chieftains of the sons of Esau, al the leaders of the Moabites and the generals of the coastal districtthen came to him and said,	8 But the children of Ammon and Moab came to Holofernes, saying: The children of Israel trust not in their spears, nor in their arrows, but the mountains are their defense, and the steep hires and precipices guard them.
9 'If our master wil be pleased to listen to us, his forces wil not sustain a single wound.	9 Wherefore that thou mayst overcome them without joining battle, set guards at the springs that they may not draw water out of them, and thou shalt destroy them without sword, or at least being wearied out they will yield up their city, which they suppose, because it is situate in the mountains, to be impregnable.
10 These Israelites do not rely so much on their spears as on the height of the mountains where they live.And admittedly it is not at all easy to scale these heights of theirs.	10 And these words pleased Holofernes, and his officers, and he placed all round about a hundred men at every spring.
11 'This being the case, master, avoid engaging them in a pitched battle and then you wil not lose a singleman.	11 And when they had kept this watch for full twenty days, the cisterns, and the reserve of waters failed among all the inhabitants of Bethulia, so that there was not within the city, enough to satisfy them, no not for one day, for water was daily given out to the people by measure.
12 Stay in camp, keep al your troops there too, while your servants seize the spring which rises at the footof the mountain,	12 Then all the men and women, young men, and children, gathering themselves together to Ozias, all together with one voice,
13 since that is what provides the population of Bethulia with their water supply. Thirst wil then force themto surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and our men wil climb the nearest mountain tops and form advanceposts there to prevent anyone from leaving the town.	13 Said: God be judge between us and thee, for thou hast done evil against us, in that thou wouldst not speak peaceably with the Assyrians, and for this cause God hath sold us into their hands.
14 Hunger wil waste them, with their wives and children, and before the sword can reach them they wilalready be lying in the streets outside their houses.	14 And therefore there is no one to help us, while we are cast down before their eyes in thirst, and sad destruction.
15 And you will make them pay dearly for their defiance and their refusal to meet you peaceably.'	15 And now assemble ye all that are in the city, that we may of our own accord yield ourselves all up to the people of Holofernes.
16 Their words pleased Holofernes as wel as al his officers, and he decided to do as they suggested.	16 For it is better, that being captives we should live and bless the Lord, than that we should die, and be a reproach to all flesh, after we have seen our wives and our infants die before our eyes.
17 Accordingly, a troop of Moabites moved forward with a further five thousand Assyrians. Theypenetrated the val ey and seized the Israelites' waterpoints and springs.	17 We call to witness this day heaven and earth, and the God of our fathers, who taketh vengeance upon us according to our sins, conjuring you to deliver now the city into the hand of the army of Holofernes, that our end may be short by the edge of the sword, which is made longer by the drought of thirst.
18 Meanwhile the Edomites and Ammonites went and took up positions in the highlands opposite Dothan,sending some of their men to the south-east opposite Egrebel near Chous on the Wadi Mochmur. The rest of theAssyrian army took up positions in the plain, covering every inch of the ground; their tents and equipment madean immense encampment, so vast were their numbers.	18 And when they had said these things, there was great weeping and lamentation of all in the assembly, and for many hours with one voice they cried to God, saying:
19 The Israelites cal ed on the Lord their God, dispirited because the enemy had surrounded them and cutal line of retreat.	19 We have sinned with our fathers we have done unjustly, we have commited iniquity:
20 For thirty-four days the Assyrian army, infantry, chariots, cavalrymen, had them surrounded. Everywater-jar the inhabitants of Bethulia had was empty,	20 Have thou mercy on us, because thou art good, or punish our iniquities by chastising us thyself, and deliver not them that trust in thee to a people that knoweth not thee,
21 their storage-wel s were drying up; on no day could a man drink his fil , since their water was rationed.	21 That they may not say among the gentiles: Where is their God?
22 Their little children pined away, the women and young men grew weak with thirst; they col apsed in the streets and gateways of the town; they had no strength left.	22 And when being wearied with these cries, and tired with these weepings, they held their peace,
23 Young men, women, children, the whole people thronged clamouring round Uzziah and the chief menof the town, shouting in the presence of the assembled elders,	23 Ozias rising up all in tears, said: Be of good courage, my brethren, and let us wait these five days for mercy from the Lord.
24 'May God be judge between you and us! For you have done us great harm, by not suing for peace withthe Assyrians.	24 For perhaps he will put a stop to his indignation, and will give glory to his own name.
25 And now there is no one to help us. God has delivered us into their hands to be prostrated before themin thirst and utter helplessness.	25 But if after five days be past there come no aid, we will do the things which you leave spoken.
26 Cal them in at once; hand the whole town over to be sacked by Holofernes' men and al his army.
27 After al , we should be much better off as their booty than we are now; no doubt we shall be enslaved,but at least we shal be alive and not see our little ones dying before our eyes or our wives and childrenperishing.
28 By heaven and earth and by our God, the Lord of our fathers, who is punishing us for our sins and thesins of our ancestors, we implore you to take this course now, today.'
29 Bitter lamentations rose from the whole assembly, and they all cried loudly to the Lord God.
30 Then Uzziah spoke to them, 'Take heart, brothers! Let us hold out five days more. By then the Lord ourGod will take pity on us, for he wil not desert us altogether.
31 At the end of this time, if no help is forthcoming, I shall do as you have said.'
32 With that he dismissed the people to their various quarters. The men went to man the wal s and towersof the town, sending the women and children home. The town was ful of despondency.