Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
To look up a word in a dictionary, select the word with your mouse and press 'd' on your keyboard.
The Siege of Bethulia
1
2 The next day Holofernes
gathered his whole army together,
as well as his allied forces. It
was an immense army, consisting of
170,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry,
not counting the support troops who
took care of the equipment. He ordered
them to march on Bethulia,
seize the mountain passes, and attack
the Israelites. So they moved
out
3 and set up camp beside the
spring in the valley near Bethulia.
The camp was so wide that it spread
out toward the town of Dothan as
far as Balbaim, and so long that it
stretched from Bethulia to Cyamon,
which faces Jezreel Valley.
4 When the Israelites saw the size
of the army, they were terrified and
said to one another, “Those soldiers
are going to eat up everything in
sight. There's not enough food in the
mountains, valleys, and hills put together
to feed an army like that.”
5 But in spite of their fear, all the Israelites
took up their weapons,
lighted signal fires on the towers,
and remained on guard duty all
night. note
6 The next day Holofernes led
out his entire cavalry so that the Israelites
in Bethulia could see them.
7 He inspected the approaches to the
town and the springs that supplied
its water. He seized the springs and
stationed guards there, before returning
to camp.
8 All the leaders of the Edomite
and Moabite forces, along with the
commanders of the troops from the
Mediterranean coast, came to Holofernes
and said,
9 “Sir, if you listen
to our advice, your troops will not
suffer heavy losses.
10 These Israelites
do not rely on their weapons for
defense but rather on the height of
the mountains where they live, since
the mountains are not easy to climb.
11 So then, General Holofernes, if
you do not make a direct attack on
them, your whole army will suffer
no casualties.
12 Stay in your camp
and keep your soldiers in their quarters.
Just command your men to
blockade the springs at the foot of
-- --
the mountains,
13 because that's
where the people of Bethulia come
to draw their water. Then, when
they are dying of thirst, they will
surrender their town to you. Meanwhile,
we and our men will go up to
the tops of the surrounding mountains,
where we will set up camp and
keep anyone from leaving the town.
14 Everyone will starve to death—
men, women, and children. Even before
we attack, the streets will be littered
with their corpses.
15 In this
way you can make them pay for
their rebellion and for refusing to
surrender peacefully to you.”
16 Holofernes and his entire staff
were pleased with this suggestion,
so he gave orders to put the plan
into action.
17 The Moabites and
5,000 Assyrians moved their camp
into the valley to control the source
of the town's water.
18 The Edomites
and the Ammonites went up into the
mountains and set up their camp opposite
the town of Dothan. They sent
some of their men to the southeast
in the direction of Acraba, near Chusi,
which is beside the Mochmur
River. The rest of the Assyrian army
set up camp in the valley. Their
camp was spread out over the whole
countryside, because the number of
tents and the amount of equipment
needed for such a large army were
immense.
19 Then the Israelites cried out to
the Lord their God for help. They
had lost their courage, for with the
enemy all around them there was no
way to escape.
20 The entire Assyrian
army—infantry, chariots, and cavalry
—blockaded Bethulia for thirty-four
days until the town ran out of
water.
21 All the reservoirs and cisterns
went dry, so that the drinking
water had to be rationed, and not a
day passed when there was enough
water to go around.
22 Children were
becoming weak; everywhere
throughout the town women and
young people were collapsing. No
one had any strength left.
23 All the people of the town—
men, women, and children alike—
gathered around Uzziah and the
town officials and shouted in protest,
24 “God will punish you for what you
have done to us! You are to blame
for what is happening, because you
did not make peace with the Assyrians.
25 There is no one to help us
now! God has put us in their power.
We are exhausted and dying of
thirst.
26 Call the Assyrians now and
surrender to them, and let Holofernes
and his army take the town and
loot it.
27 We are better off as prisoners
of war. They will make us slaves,
but at least we will be alive, and we
won't have to watch our wives and
children dying before our eyes.
28 Heaven and earth are witnesses
against you, and so is our God, the
Lord of our ancestors, who is punishing
us for their sins as well as
ours. We can only hope and pray
that he will not let these terrible
things happen to us today.” note
29 Everyone there began to weep
loudly and to pray to the Lord their
-- --
God.
30 Then Uzziah said to them,
“Don't give up, my friends! Let's
wait five more days to see if the
Lord our God will be merciful to us.
Surely he will not abandon us completely.
31 But if no help comes after
five days, then I will do as you say.”
32 So Uzziah dismissed the people.
All the men returned to their guard
posts on the walls and towers, while
the women and children went back
to their homes. The morale of the entire
town was very low.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
|