Judith 7

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 another day, instructed his army to ascend 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 Moreover, there were one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and twenty-two thousand horsemen, besides the contingents of those men who had been taken captive, and all the youths who had been abducted from the provinces and the cities.
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 sons of Israel, and they came through the foothills of the mountain, even to the apex, which looks down upon Dothain, from the place which is called Belma, up to Chelmon, which is opposite 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 sons of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, prostrated themselves upon the ground, scattering ashes over their heads, praying with one accord that the God of Israel would show 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 up their arms of war, they set up positions at the places that lead along a narrow footpath 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, while circling around, discovered that the fountain that flowed in to them, led directly through an aqueduct on the south side, beyond the city. And he instructed their aqueduct to be 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 Even so, there were springs not far from the walls, from which they were seen to draw water secretly, 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 sons of Ammon and Moab approached Holofernes, saying: “The sons of Israel do not trust in their lances, nor in their arrows, but the mountains are their defense, and the steep hills and precipices constitute their fortifications.
9 'If our master wil be pleased to listen to us, his forces wil not sustain a single wound.	9 Therefore, so that you may be able to overcome them without joining battle, set guards at the springs so that they may not draw water from them, and you will put them to death without the sword, or at least, being weary, they will hand over their city, which they suppose to be, by its position in the mountains, unable to be conquered.”
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 were pleasing before Holofernes and before his attendants, and so he stationed a hundred men around 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 through twenty full days, the cisterns and collections of waters failed among all the inhabitants of Bethulia, so that there was within the city not enough to satisfy them for even one day, because water was given out to the people daily 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, youths and little ones, gathering together before Uzziah, all with one voice together,
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: “May God be judge between us and you, for you have done evil with us, in not being willing to speak peacefully with the Assyrians, and because of this, God has 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 prostrated before their eyes with thirst and great destruction.
15 And you will make them pay dearly for their defiance and their refusal to meet you peaceably.'	15 And now, gather together all who are in the city, so that we may willingly deliver everyone of us 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 as captives, being alive, we should bless the Lord, than that we should die and become a disgrace to all flesh, after we have seen our wives and our children 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 takes vengeance upon us according to our sins, so that now you may deliver the city into the hand of the military of Holofernes. And may our end be brief, by the edge of the sword, that would be made longer by the dryness 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 happened a great weeping and a loud lamentation within the assembly. From everyone and for many hours, with one voice, they cried out 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 like our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have committed 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 May you have mercy on us, for you are pious, or with your own scourges avenge our iniquities, but do not be willing to deliver those trusting in you to a people who are ignorant of you,
21 their storage-wel s were drying up; on no day could a man drink his fil , since their water was rationed.	21 so 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 weary from these outcries, and tired from these weepings, they became silent,
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 Uzziah, rising up covered in tears, said: “Be steadfast in soul, brothers, 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 break off his indignation and 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, with five days passing, help does not arrive, we will accomplish the words that you have 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.