1 On the next day, Holofernes commanded his entire army and all his allies who joined with him to move against Bethulia and occupy the passes up in the hill country, and to attack the Israelites.
2 So their soldiers broke camp, and their army numbered a hundred seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry (not including the baggage handlers), a great multitude.
3 They camped beside the spring in the valley near Bethulia. They were spread out in width over Dothan as far as Belbaim and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, facing Esdraelon.
4 When the Israelites saw their great numbers, they were exceedingly distressed, each saying to his neighbor, “Now they will ravage the entire land. Neither the high hills, nor the valleys, nor the foothills will support their weight.”
5 Still each one took up his weapons, and having lit fires on the their watchtowers, they stood guard that whole night.
6 Then on the second day, Holofernes brought all his cavalry out in full view of the Israelites in Bethulia.
7 He carefully inspected the approaches leading to the city, and then he came upon the springs which were their water source and seized them. He placed soldiers there to guard over them, and returned to his encampment.
8 Then all the chief men of the sons of Edom, and all the leaders of the people of Moab, and the commanders of the seacoast region came to him, saying,
9 “Let our lord now hear our word, that there be no losses in your army.
10 For this people, the Israelites, do not put their trust in spears, but in the height of the mountains where they dwell, since it is not easy to reach their mountain peaks.
11 Indeed, master, do not engage them in battle formation, and not one man of your forces will fall.
12 Stay instead in your camp, and keep all the men of your army there. Have your servants take control of the spring which comes from the base of the mountain,
13 for this is where the citizens of Bethulia draw their water. Their thirst will consume them, and they will surrender their city. Then we and our forces will go up to the peaks of the mountains nearby and camp there to make sure no one departs from the city.
14 They and their wives and their children will waste away from starvation, and before the sword can come against them they will already be struck down in the streets where they live.
15 So you will repay them an evil recompense, because they rebelled and did not meet with you in peace.”
16 And their words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and he gave command that they do just as they said.
17 So the forces of the Ammonites departed, along with five thousand Assyrians, and they set up camp in the valley and captured the springs, the water supply for the Israelites.
18 Then the Edomites and the Ammonites came up and camped in the hills facing Dothan, and from there they dispatched some of their troops to the south and east, toward Egrebeh, near Chusi beside the brook Mochmur. The remainder of the Assyrian forces camped on the plain and spread out over the whole countryside, and their tents and the supply lines expanded everywhere, an enormous array.
19 Then the children of Israel were disheartened, and they cried out to the Lord their God. Their enemies had them surrounded, and there was no way for them to escape.
20 The entire army of Assyrians—their infantry, chariots, and their cavalry—encircled them for thirty-four days, and all the water containers of the citizens of Bethulia stood empty.
21 Their cisterns were dried up, and there was not one day in which there was enough water to drink, for the water was rationed.
22 Their children became listless, and their women and youths fainted from thirst and collapsed in the city streets and in the gateways, for there was no longer any strength in them.
23 Then all the people, the youths, the women, and the children, crowded around Uzziah and the leaders of the city. With loud voices they cried out before all the elders, saying,
24 “May God judge between you and us! For you have done us a great wrong by not making peace with the Assyrians.
25 For now there is none to help us. And God has delivered us into the hands of them who laid us low in thirst and in great destruction.
26 So call to them and surrender the whole city to be plunder to the army of Holofernes and all his forces.
27 For it is better for us to be plunder to them, for we shall become their slaves, but our lives will be saved, and we will not have to watch our infants die before our eyes, and our wives and children breathing their last.
28 We call all of heaven and earth to witness against you and entreat our God, the Lord of our fathers, who is punishing us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, do according to these words spoken this very day.”
29 And with one accord, a great mourning broke out in the midst of the whole assembly, and with a loud voice they cried out to the Lord God.
30 But Uzziah spoke to them, “Brothers, take courage, and let us endure yet five more days, in which the Lord our God will return His mercy to us. He will not utterly forsake us.
31 But if these days come and go, and no help reaches us, I will do as you say.”
32 Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up on the walls and watchtowers of their city, and he sent the women and children home. And they were in great misery in the city.