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.