Judith 7

¹Forsothe in `the tother dai Holofernes comaundide hise oostis to stie ayens Bethulia.

²Forsothe there weren sixe score thousynde `foot men of fiyteris, and twelue thousynde knyytis, `outakun the makyng redi of tho men, whiche caitifte hadde ocupied, and weren brouyt fro prouynces and citees, of alle yongthe.

³Alle togidere maden hem redi to batel ayens the sones of Israel; and thei camen bi the side of the hil `til to the cop, that biholdith Dothaym, fro the place which is seid Belma `til to Selmon, which is ayens Esdrolon.

⁴Forsothe the sones of Israel, as thei sien the multitude of hem, bowiden doun hem silf on the erthe, and senten aische on her heedis, and preiden with o wille, that God of Israel schulde schewe his merci on his puple.

⁵And thei token her armuris of batel, and saten bi the places `that dressen the path of streyt weie bitwixe hilli places, and thei kepten tho places al the dai and nyyt.

⁶Certis Holofernes, the while he yede aboute bi cumpas, foonde that the welle, that flowide in to the watir cundit of hem, was dressid at the south part with out the citee, and he comaundide her watir cundit to be kit.

⁷Netheles wellis weren not fer fro the wallis, of whiche wellis thei weren seyn to drawe watir bi thefte, rather to refreische than to drynke.

⁸But the sones of Amon and of Moab neiyiden to Holofernes, and seiden, The sones of Israel tristen not in spere and arowe, but hillis defenden hem, and litle hillis set in the rooche of stoon maken hem stronge.

⁹Therfor that thou maist ouercome hem without asailyng of batel, sette thou keperis of wellis, that thei drawe not of tho; and thou schalt sle hem without swerd, ethir certis thei maad feynt schulen bitake her citee, which thei gessen `to mow not be ouercomun `in the hillis.

¹⁰And these wordis plesiden bifor Holofernes, and bifor alle hise knyytis; and he ordeynede bi cumpas bi ech welle an hundrid men.

¹¹And whanne `this kepyng was fillid bi twenti daies, cisternes and gaderyngis of watris fayliden to alle men dwellynge in Bethulia, so that there was not with ynne the citee, wherof thei schulden be fillid, nameli o dai, for the watir was youun at mesure to the puplis ech dai.

¹²Thanne alle men and wymmen, yonge men and elde, and litle children, weren gaderid togidere to Ozie, and alle thei seiden to gidere with o vois,

¹³The Lord deme bitwixe vs and thee, for thou, not wyllynge speke pesibli with Assiriens, hast `do yuels ayenus vs, and for this thing God hath seld vs in the hondis of hem.

¹⁴And therfor `noon is that helpith, whanne we ben cast doun in thirst, and in greet los bifor her iyen.

¹⁵And now gadere ye togidere alle men, that ben in the citee, that alle we puplis bitake vs bi fre wille to Holofernes.

¹⁶It is betere that we prisoneris blesse God and lyue, than that we die, and be schenschip to ech man, sithen we seen that oure wyues and oure yonge children dien bifor oure iyen.

¹⁷We clepen in to witnessyng to dai heuene and erthe, and the God of oure fadris, that punischith vs aftir oure synnes, that nowe ye bitake the citee in to the hondis of the chyualrie of Holofernes, and oure ende be schort in the scharpnesse of swerd, which ende is maad lengere in the drynesse of thirst.

¹⁸And whanne thei hadden seid these thingis, greet wepyng and yellyng was maad of alle men in the grete chirche, and bi many ouris thei crieden `with o vois to the Lord,

¹⁹and seiden, We and oure fadris han synned, we han do vniustli, we diden wickidnesse.

²⁰Thou, for thou art mercyful, haue mercy on vs, and venge oure wickidnessis in thi scourge; and nyle thou bitake men knoulechynge thee to a puple that knowith not thee,

²¹that thei seie not amonge hethene men, Where is the God of hem?

²²And whanne thei weren maad feynt with these cries, and weren maad wery with these wepyngis, and weren stille,

²³Ozie roos up, bisched with teeris, and seide, Britheren, be ye pacient, and bi these fyue daies abide we mercy of the Lord;

²⁴for in hap he schal kitte a wei his indignacioun, and schal yyue glorie to his name.

²⁵Sotheli if whanne these fyue daies ben passid, help cometh not, we schulen do these wordis whiche ye han spoke.

Judith 7

¹The next day Holofernes commanded all his army, and all his people which were come to take his part, that they should remove their camp against Bethulia, to take aforehand the ascents of the hill country, and to make war against the children of Israel.

²Then their strong men removed their camps in that day, and the army of the men of war was an hundred and seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand horsemen, beside the baggage, and other men that were afoot among them, a very great multitude.

³And they camped in the valley near unto Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread themselves in breadth over Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from Bethulia unto Cynamon, which is over against Esdraelon.

⁴Now the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, were greatly troubled, and said every one to his neighbour, Now will these men lick up the face of the earth; for neither the high mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, are able to bear their weight.

⁵Then every man took up his weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires upon their towers, they remained and watched all that night.

⁶But in the second day Holofernes brought forth all his horsemen in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia,

⁷And viewed the passages up to the city, and came to the fountains of their waters, and took them, and set garrisons of men of war over them, and he himself removed toward his people.

⁸Then came unto him all the chief of the children of Esau, and all the governors of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast, and said,

⁹Let our lord now hear a word, that there be not an overthrow in thine army.

¹⁰For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains wherein they dwell, because it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains.

¹¹Now therefore, my lord, fight not against them in battle array, and there shall not so much as one man of thy people perish.

¹²Remain in thy camp, and keep all the men of thine army, and let thy servants get into their hands the fountain of water, which issueth forth of the foot of the mountain:

¹³For all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence; so shall thirst kill them, and they shall give up their city, and we and our people shall go up to the tops of the mountains that are near, and will camp upon them, to watch that none go out of the city.

¹⁴So they and their wives and their children shall be consumed with fire, and before the sword come against them, they shall be overthrown in the streets where they dwell.

¹⁵Thus shalt thou render them an evil reward; because they rebelled, and met not thy person peaceably.

¹⁶And these words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and he appointed to do as they had spoken.

¹⁷So the camp of the children of Ammon departed, and with them five thousand of the Assyrians, and they pitched in the valley, and took the waters, and the fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.

¹⁸Then the children of Esau went up with the children of Ammon, and camped in the hill country over against Dothaim: and they sent some of them toward the south, and toward the east over against Ekrebel, which is near unto Chusi, that is upon the brook Mochmur; and the rest of the army of the Assyrians camped in the plain, and covered the face of the whole land; and their tents and carriages were pitched to a very great multitude.

¹⁹Then the children of Israel cried unto the Lord their God, because their heart failed, for all their enemies had compassed them round about, and there was no way to escape out from among them.

²⁰Thus all the company of Assur remained about them, both their footmen, chariots, and horsemen, four and thirty days, so that all their vessels of water failed all the inhabitants of Bethulia.

²¹And the cisterns were emptied, and they had not water to drink their fill for one day; for they gave them drink by measure.

²²Therefore their young children were out of heart, and their women and young men fainted for thirst, and fell down in the streets of the city, and by the passages of the gates, and there was no longer any strength in them.

²³Then all the people assembled to Ozias, and to the chief of the city, both young men, and women, and children, and cried with a loud voice, and said before all the elders,

²⁴God be judge between us and you: for ye have done us great injury, in that ye have not required peace of the children of Assur.

²⁵For now we have no helper: but God hath sold us into their hands, that we should be thrown down before them with thirst and great destruction.

²⁶Now therefore call them unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the people of Holofernes, and to all his army.

²⁷For it is better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to die for thirst: for we will be his servants, that our souls may live, and not see the death of our infants before our eyes, nor our wives nor our children to die.

²⁸We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God and Lord of our fathers, which punisheth us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day.

²⁹Then there was great weeping with one consent in the midst of the assembly; and they cried unto the Lord God with a loud voice.

³⁰Then said Ozias to them, Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure five days, in the which space the Lord our God may turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly.

³¹And if these days pass, and there come no help unto us, I will do according to your word.

³²And he dispersed the people, every one to their own charge; and they went unto the walls and towers of their city, and sent the women and children into their houses: and they were very low brought in the city.