7 And he inspected the sunrises of their cities, and went round and occupied the fountains of their waters, and having surrounded them with men of war, he returned to his people.

8 And all the captains of the children of Esau, and all the leaders of the people of Moab, and all the captains of the captains of the coast, came to him, and said,

9 Hearken, O our lord, to the word, that there may be no loss in thy army.

10 This people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the high places of their mountains in which they live, because it is inconvenient to go up to the tops of their mountains.

11 Therefore, my lord, do not fight with him as an ordinary war is, and not a single man will fall from among your people.

12 Thou shalt remain in thy camp, that thou mayest preserve every man in thy army, and that thy servants shall possess the fountain of water that flows out of the foot of the mountain;

13 for all the inhabitants of Bethulia take water from it, and thirst shall destroy them, and they shall give up their city; And we and our people will go up to the near peaks of the mountains, and encamp ourselves on them to keep watch, so that no man may go out of the city.

14 And they shall be tormented with hunger, and their wives and their children, and before the sword touches them, they shall fall in the streets of their abode;

15 And thou shalt repay them with evil, because they were troubled, and did not meet thee in peace.

16 And Holofernes and all his servants were pleased with these words, and he resolved to do as they had said.

17 And the host of the children of Ammon, and with them the five thousand sons of Assyria, and encamped in the valley, they took possession of the waters and fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.

18 And the sons of Esau, and the sons of Ammon, went up and occupied the hill region against Dothaim, and sent a part of them south and east against Ekrebel, which is near Cush, which is by the brook Mochmur; the rest of the Assyrian army encamped on the plain and covered the whole face of the earth: their tents and carts with a multitude of people stretched out over a very large area.

19 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord their God, because they were disheartened, because all their enemies had surrounded them, and they could not flee from them.

20 And all the army of Assyria stood round about them, the footmen, the chariots, and their cavalry, thirty-four days; and all the inhabitants of Bethulia were exhausted of all the vessels of water;