1 The next day, Holofernes commanded his entire army, together with his allies, to march toward the town of Bethulia and take control of the mountain passes leading there, then to attack the Israelites.
2 His army was very large—170,000 foot soldiers and 12,000 cavalry troops, not counting the soldiers who carried the supplies. So they marched out
3 and set up camp by the spring in the valley near Bethulia. The camp covered an area that stretched from Dothan to Balbaim, and from Bethulia to Cyamon, a town facing Jezreel Valley.
4 When the Israelites saw how many Assyrians were ready to attack, they were terrified and said to one another, “That army will wipe out everything in sight, including the mountains and the valleys.”
5 Although the Israelites were afraid, they immediately grabbed their weapons and lit the signal fires in the watchtowers, ready to stand guard all night long.