4
When the Israelites saw their vast numbers, they were greatly terrified and said to one another, "They will now strip clean the whole land; neither the high mountains nor the valleys nor the hills will bear their weight."
5
Yet they all seized their weapons, and when they had kindled fires on their towers, they remained on guard all that night.
6
On the second day Holofernes led out all his cavalry in full view of the Israelites in Bethulia.
7
He reconnoitered the approaches to their town, and visited the springs that supplied their water; he seized them and set guards of soldiers over them, and then returned to his army.
8
Then all the chieftains of the Edomites and all the leaders of the Moabites and the commanders of the coastland came to him and said,
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.