And on the second day, Holofernes commanded all his army to march against Bethulia.

And his footmen were a hundred and twenty thousand, and his horsemen twenty-two thousand, besides the men brought in and all the young men whom he brought with him from the provinces and cities. So Uzziah stood, and his tears flowing, and said to them, "Be of good cheer, my brethren, and let us wait for mercy from the Lord these five days, for it may be that He will cease His wrath and establish glory for His name. And if, after five days, no help comes to us, we will do as you say."

Then they all prepared to fight against the children of Israel, and they came from the side of the mountain to the summit that overlooks Dothan, from the place called Belma to Chelmon, which is opposite Jezreel.

When the children of Israel saw their great multitude, they fell to the ground and cast ashes upon their heads, and prayed with one heart to the God of Israel, that He would show mercy upon His people.

Then every man took his weapon, and they took their stand in the places leading to the narrow pass between the mountains, and remained on guard all day and night.

And as Holofernes was going about the land, he found the spring which ran into the city from the south, having a channel outside the city, so he commanded to cut off the channel.

There were other springs near the wall from which they secretly drew water to assuage their thirst, though they were not fully quenched.

Then the children of Ammon and Moab came forward to Holofernes and said to him, "The children of Israel do not rely on spear and arrow, but the mountains protect them, and the hills between the hollows fortify them."

Therefore, that thou mayest overcome them without battle, set guards over the springs, lest they draw water from them, so thou shalt slay them without sword, or the distress into which they shall fall shall compel them to surrender their city, which they account impregnable because it is upon the mountains.

And Holofernes and all his servants were pleased with this speech, so he appointed guards over the springs from among the captains of a hundred, over every spring on all sides.

So they remained on this watch for twenty days, until the waters of the wells of Bethulia and all its cisterns dried up completely, so that there was no water within the city to quench their thirst for a single day, for the water was given to the people in measure each day.

Then all the men, women, young men, and children gathered to Uzziah, all with one voice,

And they said, "May God judge between us and thee, for thou hast brought evil upon us, by refusing to commune with the Assyrians in peace; and for this cause, God hath sold us into their hands."

And now, we have no helper, but we shall perish before their eyes from thirst and great destruction.

Now therefore, call all who are in the city, and let us all surrender ourselves to the people of Holofernes of our own accord.

For it is better for us to bless the Lord alive in captivity than to die and be a discredit to all mankind, after having seen our wives and children die before us.

And we conjure you by heaven and earth, and by the God of our fathers, that according to our sins He avenges us; surrender the city into the hands of Holofernes' army, that our term may quickly end by the edge of the sword, and we not linger in the torment of thirst.

When they had said this, there was great weeping and wailing throughout the whole congregation, and they cried out to God with one voice for many hours, saying,

We and our fathers have sinned, and have committed iniquity and injustice.

Have mercy upon us, for Thou art merciful, or else avenge our iniquities by punishing us Thyself, and deliver not those who acknowledge Thee into the hands of a people who know Thee not.

Lest it be said among the nations, 'Where is their God?'

Then they grew weary of crying out and exhausted from weeping, so they fell silent.