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;

21 And the cisterns were desolate, and they could not drink water to their heart's content, because they had given them to drink by measure.

22 And their children and their wives and young men were weary, and they fell faint with thirst in the streets of the city, and in the gates of the gates, and there was no more strength in them.

23 Тогда весь народ собрался к Озии и к начальникам города, – юноши, жены и дети, – и с громким воплем говорили всем старейшинам:

24 суди Бог между нами и вами; вы сделали нам великую неправду, потому что не предложили мира сынам Ассура;

25 и теперь нет нам помощника: Бог предал нас в их руки, чтобы погубить нас жаждою и великою погибелью.

26 Пригласите же их теперь и отдайте весь город на разграбление народу Олоферна и всему войску его,

27 ибо лучше для нас достаться им на расхищение: хотя мы будем рабами их, зато жива будет душа наша, и глаза наши не увидят смерти младенцев наших и жен и детей наших, расстающихся с душами своими.