Part 184 (1/2)

PERSONS OF THE STORY.

_Judith, a widow of Bethulia_.

_Holofernes, captain of the hosts of Nebuchadnezzar_.

_Ozias, elder in Bethulia_.

_Maid of Judith's_.

_People of Bethulia, soldiers of Holofernes_.

PLACE OF THE STORY.

_Bethulia_.

_Camp of Holofernes_.

_Tent of Holofernes_.

JUDITH.

(The story of Judith, and how she delivered Israel by cutting off the head of Holofernes, a great captain of the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar, is told in the Apocrypha.

According to the story, King Nebuchadnezzar made war upon Arphaxad, king of the Medes. He summoned all nations to aid him, and having been victorious, he sent an army of 132,000 men to take vengeance upon those nations which refused to come at his call. This great army swept down from the North, destroying everything in its path.)

_The March of Holofernes_.

And Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors and the captains and {81} officers of the host of a.s.shur; and he numbered chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, up to a hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback; and he ranged them, as a great army is ordered for the war. And he took camels and a.s.ses and mules for their baggage, an exceeding great mult.i.tude; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision; and great stores of food for every man, and exceeding much gold and silver out of the king's house. And he went forth, he and all his host, on their journey, to go before King Nebuchadnezzar, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots and hors.e.m.e.n and chosen footmen. And a great company of many nations went forth with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for they could not be numbered by reason of their mult.i.tude.

And they went out of Nineveh three days' journey toward the plain of Bectileth, and encamped from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia. And he took all his host, his footmen and hors.e.m.e.n and chariots, and went away from thence into the hill country, and destroyed many peoples.

And the fear and the dread of him fell upon them that dwelt on the sea coast, from the north to the south. And they sent to him messengers with words of peace, saying, ”Behold, we the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the great king lie before thee: use us as it is pleasing in thy sight. Behold, our dwellings, and all our country, and all our fields of wheat, and our flocks and herds, and all the sheepcotes {82} of our tents, lie before thy face: use them as it may please thee. Behold, even our cities and they that dwell in them are thy servants: come and deal with them as it is good in thine eyes.”

And the men came to Holofernes, and spoke to him according to these words.

And he came down toward the sea coast, he and his host, and set garrisons in the great cities, and took out of them chosen men for allies. And they received him, they and all the country round about them, with garlands and dances and timbrels. And he cast down all their defenses, and cut down their sacred groves: and it had been given to him to destroy all the G.o.ds of the land, that all the nations should wors.h.i.+p Nebuchadnezzar only, and that all their tongues and their tribes should call upon him as G.o.d. And he came towards Esdraelon near to Dotaea, which is over against the great ridge of Judaea. And he encamped between Geba and Scythopolis, and he was there a whole month, that he might gather together all the baggage of his host.

_The Siege of Bethulia_.

(After ravaging the coast, Holofernes pushed up into the hill country to attack the cities of Israel.)

But the next day Holofernes gave command to all his army and to all his people which were come to be his allies, that they should remove their camp toward Bethulia, and take aforehand the ascents of the hill country, and make war against the children of Israel. And every mighty man of them removed that day, and the host of their men of {83} war was a hundred and seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand hors.e.m.e.n, beside the baggage, and the men that were afoot among them, an exceeding great mult.i.tude. And they encamped in the valley near unto Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread out over all the land.

But the children of Israel, when they saw the mult.i.tude of them, were troubled exceedingly, and said every one to his neighbor, ”Now shall these men lick up the face of all the earth; and neither the high mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, shall be able to bear their weight.”

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

But on the second day Holofernes led out all his horse in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia, and viewed the ascents to their city, and searched out the fountains of the waters, and seized upon them, and set garrisons of men of war over them, and himself departed to his people.

And there came to him all the rulers of the children of Esau, and all the leaders of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast, and said,--

”Let our lord now hear a word, that thy host be not overthrown. For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains wherein they dwell, for it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains. And now, my lord, fight not against them in battle array, and there shall not so much as one man {84} of thy people perish. Remain in thy camp, and keep safe every man of thy host, and let thy servants get possession of the fountain of water, which issueth forth at the foot of the mountain: because all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water hence; and thirst shall kill them, and they shall give up their city: and we and our people will go up to the tops of the mountains that are near, and will encamp upon them, to watch that not one man go out of the city.

And they shall be consumed with famine, they and their wives and their children, and before the sword come against them they shall be laid low in the streets where they dwell. And thou shalt render them an evil reward; because they rebelled, and met thee not in peace.”

And their words were pleasing in the sight of Holofernes and in the sight of all his servants; and he commanded to do as they had spoken.