Book of Judith 4-16: The Pious Heroine

Greco-Roman Period
4When the Israelites living in Judea heard of everything that Holofernes, the general of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had
plundered and destroyed all their temples, 2 they were therefore greatly terrified at his
approach; they were alarmed both for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God.
3 For they had only recently returned from exile, and all the people of Judea had just now
gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been
consecrated after their profanation. 4 So they sent word to every district of Samaria, and to
Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, and Jericho, and to Choba and Aesora, and the valley of
Salem. 5 They immediately seized all the high hilltops and fortified the villages on them
and stored up food in preparation for war—since their fields had recently been harvested.

6 The high priest, Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of
Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan,
7 ordering them to seize the mountain passes, since by them Judea could be invaded; and it
would be easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, wide enough
for only two at a time to pass.

8 So the Israelites did as they had been ordered by the high priest Joakim and the senate
of the whole people of Israel, in session at Jerusalem. 9 And every man of Israel cried out
to God with great fervour, and they humbled themselves with much fasting. 10 They and
their wives and their children and their cattle and every resident alien and hired labourer
and purchased slave—they all put sackcloth around their waists. 11 And all the Israelite
men, women, and children living at Jerusalem prostrated themselves before the temple
and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord. 12 They even
draped the altar with sackcloth and cried out in unison, praying fervently to the God of
Israel not to allow their infants to be carried off and their wives to be taken as booty, and
the towns they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and
desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles.

13 The Lord heard their prayers and had regard for their distress; for the people fasted for
many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.
14 The high priest Joakim and all the priests who stood before the Lord and ministered to
the Lord, with sackcloth around their loins, offered the daily burnt-offerings, the votive
offerings, and freewill-offerings of the people. 15 With ashes on their turbans, they cried
out to the Lord with all their might to look with favour on the whole house of Israel.
5It was reported to Holofernes, the general of the Assyrian army, that the people of Israel
had prepared for war and had closed the mountain passes and fortified all the high
hilltops and set up barricades in the plains. 2 In great anger he called together all the
princes of Moab and the commanders of Ammon and all the governors of the coastland,
3 and said to them, ‘Tell me, you Canaanites, what people is this that lives in the hill
country? What towns do they inhabit? How large is their army, and in what does their
power and strength consist? Who rules over them as king and leads their army? 4 And
why have they alone, of all who live in the west, refused to come out and meet me?’

5 Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites, said to him, ‘May my lord please listen
to a report from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth about this people
that lives in the mountain district near you. No falsehood shall come from your servant’s
mouth. 6 These people are descended from the Chaldeans. 7 At one time they lived in
Mesopotamia, because they did not wish to follow the gods of their ancestors who were
in Chaldea. 8 Since they had abandoned the ways of their ancestors, and worshipped the
God of heaven, the God they had come to know, their ancestors drove them out from the
presence of their gods. So they fled to Mesopotamia, and lived there for a long time.
9 Then their God commanded them to leave the place where they were living and go to the
land of Canaan. There they settled, and grew very prosperous in gold and silver and very
much livestock. 10 When a famine spread over the land of Canaan they went down to
Egypt and lived there as long as they had food. There they became so great a multitude
that their race could not be counted. 11 So the king of Egypt became hostile to them; he
exploited them and forced them to make bricks. 12 They cried out to their God, and he
afflicted the whole land of Egypt with incurable plagues. So the Egyptians drove them
out of their sight. 13 Then God dried up the Red Sea before them, 14 and he led them by the
way of Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. They drove out all the people of the desert, 15 and took
up residence in the land of the Amorites, and by their might destroyed all the inhabitants
of Heshbon; and crossing over the Jordan they took possession of all the hill country.
16 They drove out before them the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the
Shechemites, and all the Gergesites, and lived there a long time.

17 ‘As long as they did not sin against their God they prospered, for the God who hates
iniquity is with them. 18 But when they departed from the way he had prescribed for them,
they were utterly defeated in many battles and were led away captive to a foreign land.
The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their towns were occupied by their
enemies. 19 But now they have returned to their God, and have come back from the places
where they were scattered, and have occupied Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and
have settled in the hill country, because it was uninhabited.

20 ‘So now, my master and lord, if there is any oversight in this people and they sin
against their God and we find out their offence, then we can go up and defeat them. 21 But
if they are not a guilty nation, then let my lord pass them by; for their Lord and God will
defend them, and we shall become the laughing-stock of the whole world.’

22 When Achior had finished saying these things, all the people standing around the tent
began to complain; Holofernes’ officers and all the inhabitants of the sea coast and Moab
insisted that he should be cut to pieces. 23 They said, ‘We are not afraid of the Israelites;
they are a people with no strength or power for making war. 24 Therefore let us go ahead,
Lord Holofernes, and your vast army will swallow them up.’

6When the disturbance made by the people outside the council had died down,
Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, said to Achior in the presence of all
the foreign contingents-

2 ‘Who are you, Achior and you mercenaries of Ephraim, to prophesy among us as you
have done today and tell us not to make war against the people of Israel because their
God will defend them? What god is there except Nebuchadnezzar? He will send his
forces and destroy them from the face of the earth. Their God will not save them; 3 we the
king’s servants will destroy them as one man. They cannot resist the might of our
cavalry. 4 We will overwhelm them; their mountains will be drunk with their blood, and
their fields will be full of their dead. Not even their footprints will survive our attack;
they will utterly perish. So says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of the whole earth. For he
has spoken; none of his words shall be in vain.

5 ‘As for you, Achior, you Ammonite mercenary, you have said these words in a moment
of perversity; you shall not see my face again from this day until I take revenge on this
race that came out of Egypt. 6 Then at my return the sword of my army and the spear of
my servants shall pierce your sides, and you shall fall among their wounded. 7 Now my
slaves are going to take you back into the hill country and put you in one of the towns
beside the passes. 8 You will not die until you perish along with them. 9 If you really hope
in your heart that they will not be taken, then do not look downcast! I have spoken, and
none of mywords shall fail to come true.’

10 Then Holofernes ordered his slaves, who waited on him in his tent, to seize Achior
and take him away to Bethulia and hand him over to the Israelites. 11 So the slaves took
him and led him out of the camp into the plain, and from the plain they went up into the
hill country and came to the springs below Bethulia. 12 When the men of the town saw
them, they seized their weapons and ran out of the town to the top of the hill, and all the
slingers kept them from coming up by throwing stones at them. 13 So having taken shelter
below the hill, they bound Achior and left him lying at the foot of the hill, and returned to
their master.

14 Then the Israelites came down from their town and found him; they untied him and
brought him into Bethulia and placed him before the magistrates of their town, 15 who in
those days were Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris son of
Gothoniel, and Charmis son of Melchiel. 16 They called together allthe elders of the town,
and all their young men and women ran to the assembly. They set Achior in the midst of
all their people, and Uzziah questioned him about what had happened. 17 He answered and
told them what had taken place at the council of Holofernes, and all that he had said in
the presence of the Assyrian leaders, and all that Holofernes had boasted he would do
against the house of Israel. 18 Then the people fell down and worshipped God, and cried
out-

19 ‘O Lord God of heaven, see their arrogance, and have pity on our people in their
humiliation, and look kindly today on the faces of those who are consecrated to you.’
20 Then they reassured Achior, and praised him highly. 21 Uzziah took him from the
assembly to his own house and gave a banquet for the elders; and all that night they
called on the God of Israel for help.

7The next day Holofernes ordered his whole army, and all the allies who had joined him,
to break camp and move against Bethulia, and to seize the passes up into the hill country
and make war on the Israelites. 2 So all their warriors marched off that day; their fighting
forces numbered one hundred and seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry,
not counting the baggage and the foot-soldiers handling it, a very great multitude. 3 They
encamped in the valley near Bethulia, beside the spring, and they spread out in breadth
over Dothan as far as Balbaim and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces
Esdraelon.

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 reconnoitred 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, 9 ‘Listen to what we have to say, my
lord, and your army will suffer no losses. 10 This people, the Israelites, do not rely on their
spears but on the height of the mountains where they live, for it is not easy to reach the
tops of their mountains. 11 Therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in regular
formation, and not a man of your army will fall. 12 Remain in your camp, and keep all the
men in your forces with you; let your servants take possession of the spring of water that
flows from the foot of the mountain, 13 for this is where allthe people of Bethulia get their
water. So thirst will destroy them, and they will surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and
our people will go up to the tops of the nearby mountains and camp there to keep watch
to see that no one gets out of the town. 14 They and their wives and children will waste
away with famine, and before the sword reaches them they will be strewn about in the
streets where they live. 15 Thus you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled
and did not receive you peaceably.’

16 These words pleased Holofernes and all his attendants, and he gave orders to do as
they had said. 17 So the army of the Ammonites moved forward, together with five
thousand Assyrians, and they encamped in the valley and seized the water supply and the
springs of the Israelites. 18 And the Edomites and Ammonites went up and encamped in
the hill country opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men towards the south and
the east, towards Egrebeh, which is near Chusi beside the Wadi Mochmur. The rest of the
Assyrian army encamped in the plain, and covered the whole face of the land. Their tents
and supply trains spread out in great number, and they formed a vast multitude.

19 The Israelites then cried out to the Lord their God, for their courage failed, because all
their enemies had surrounded them, and there was no way of escape from them. 20 The
whole Assyrian army, their infantry, chariots, and cavalry, surrounded them for thirty-
four days, until all the water containers of every inhabitant of Bethulia were empty;
21 their cisterns were going dry, and on no day did they have enough water to drink, for
their drinking water was rationed. 22 Their children were listless, and the women and
young men fainted from thirst and were collapsing in the streets of the town and in the
gateways; they no longer had any strength.

23 Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children, gathered around
Uzziah and the rulers of the town and cried out with a loud voice, and said before all the
elders, 24 ‘Let God judge between you and us! You have done us a great injury in not
making peace with the Assyrians. 25 For now we have no one to help us; God has sold us
into their hands, to be strewn before them in thirst and exhaustion. 26 Now summon them
and surrender the whole town as booty to the army of Holofernes and to all his forces.
27 For it would be better for us to be captured by them. We shall indeed become slaves,
but our lives will be spared, and we shall not witness our little ones dying before our eyes,
and our wives and children drawing their last breath. 28 We call to witness against you
heaven and earth and our God, the Lord of our ancestors, who punishes us for our sins
and the sins of our ancestors; do today the things that we have described!’

29 Then great and general lamentation arose throughout the assembly, and they cried out
to the Lord God with a loud voice. 30 But Uzziah said to them, ‘Courage, my brothers and
sisters! Let us hold out for five days more; by that time the Lord our God will turn his
mercy to us again, for he will not forsake us utterly. 31 But if these days pass by, and no
help comes for us, I will do as you say.’

32 Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up on the walls and
towers of their town. The women and children he sent home. In the town they were in
great misery.

8Now in those days Judith heard about these things- she was the daughter of Merari son
of Ox son of Joseph son of Oziel son of Elkiah son of Ananias son of Gideon son of
Raphain son of Ahitub son of Elijah son of Hilkiah son of Eliab son of Nathanael son of
Salamiel son of Sarasadai son of Israel. 2 Her husband Manasseh, who belonged to her
tribe and family, had died during the barley harvest. 3 For as he stood overseeing those
who were binding sheaves in the field, he was overcome by the burning heat, and took to
his bed and died in his town Bethulia. So they buried him with his ancestors in the field
between Dothan and Balamon. 4 Judith remained as a widow for three years and four
months 5 at home where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house. She put
sackcloth around her waist and dressed in widow’s clothing. 6 She fasted all the days of
her widowhood, except the day before the sabbath and the sabbath itself, the day before
the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the festivals and days of rejoicing of the
house of Israel. 7 She was beautiful in appearance, and was very lovely to behold. Her
husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, men and women slaves, livestock, and
fields; and she maintained this estate. 8 No one spoke ill of her, for she feared God with
great devotion.

9 When Judith heard the harsh words spoken by the people against the ruler, because they
were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzziah said to them, and how he
promised them under oath to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days, 10 she
sent her maid, who was in charge of all she possessed, to summon Uzziah and Chabris
and Charmis, the elders of her town. 11 They came to her, and she said to them-

‘Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to the people today is
not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you,
promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within
so many days. 12 Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the
place of * God in human affairs? 13 You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you
will never learn anything! 14 You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or
understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who
made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brothers,
do not anger the Lord our God. 15 For if he does not choose to help us within these five
days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the
presence of our enemies. 16 Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God; for God
is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by
pleading. 17 Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us,
and he will hear our voice if it pleases him.

18 ‘For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or
family or people or town of ours that worships gods made with hands, as was done in
days gone by. 19 That was why our ancestors were handed over to the sword and to pillage,
and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies. 20 But we know no other god
but him, and so we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation. 21 For if we are
captured, all Judea will be captured and our sanctuary will be plundered; and he will
make us pay for its desecration with our blood. 22 The slaughter of our kindred and the
captivity of the land and the desolation of our inheritance—all this he will bring on our
heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves; and we shall be an offence and a
disgrace in the eyes of those who acquire us. 23 For our slavery will not bring us into
favour, but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonour.

24 ‘Therefore, my brothers, let us set an example to our kindred, for their lives depend
upon us, and the sanctuary—both the temple and the altar—rests upon us. 25 In spite of
everything let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is putting us to the test as he did
our ancestors. 26 Remember what he did with Abraham, and how he tested Isaac, and what
happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia, while he was tending the sheep of Laban, his
mother’s brother. 27 For he has not tried us with fire, as he did them, to search their hearts,
nor has he taken vengeance on us; but the Lord scourges those who are close to him in
order to admonish them.’

28 Then Uzziah said to her, ‘All that you have said was spoken out of a true heart, and
there is no one who can deny your words. 29 Today is not the first time your wisdom has
been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your
understanding, for your heart’s disposition is right. 30 But the people were so thirsty that
they compelled us to do for them what we have promised, and made us take an oath that
we cannot break. 31 Now since you are a God-fearing woman, pray for us, so that the Lord
may send us rain to fill our cisterns. Then we will no longer feelfaint from thirst.’

32 Then Judith said to them, ‘Listen to me. I am about to do something that will go down
through all generations of our descendants. 33 Stand at the town gate tonight so that I may
go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the
town to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand. 34 Only, do not try to find
out what I am doing; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do.’
35 Uzziah and the rulers said to her, ‘Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you,
to take vengeance on our enemies.’ 36 So they returned from the tent and went to their
posts.

9Then Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she
was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house
of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said-
2 ‘O Lord God of my ancestor Simeon, to whom you gave a sword to take revenge on
those strangers who had torn off a virgin’s clothing * to defile her, and exposed her thighs
to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for you said, “It shall not be
done”—yet they did it; 3 so you gave up their rulers to be killed, and their bed, which was
ashamed of the deceit they had practised, was stained with blood, and you struck down
slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones. 4 You gave up their wives for
booty and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among your
beloved children who burned with zeal for you and abhorred the pollution of their blood
and called on you for help. O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.

5 ‘For you have done these things and those that went before and those that followed.
You have designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. What you had in
mind has happened; 6 the things you decided on presented themselves and said, “Here we
are!” For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgement is with
foreknowledge.

7 ‘Here now are the Assyrians, a greatly increased force, priding themselves on their
horses and riders, boasting in the strength of their foot-soldiers, and trusting in shield and
spear, in bow and sling. They do not know that you are the Lord who crushes wars; the
Lord is your name. 8 Break their strength by your might, and bring down their power in
your anger; for they intend to defile your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where
your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns * of your altar with the sword.
9 Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the
strong hand to do what I plan. 10 By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the
prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman.

11 ‘For your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But
you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of
the forsaken, saviour of those without hope. 12 Please, please, God of my father, God of
the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your
creation, hear my prayer! 13 Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those
who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and
against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. 14 Let your whole nation
and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might,
and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!’

10When Judith * had stopped crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these
words, 2 she rose from where she lay prostrate. She called her maid and went down into
the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her festal days. 3 She removed the sackcloth
she had been wearing, took off her widow’s garments, bathed her body with water, and
anointed herself with precious ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed
herself in the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living.
4 She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, ear-rings, and all her
other jewellery. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men
who might see her. 5 She gave her maid a skin of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag
with roasted grain, dried fig cakes, and fine bread; * then she wrapped up all her dishes
and gave them to her to carry.

6 Then they went out to the town gate of Bethulia and found Uzziah standing there with
the elders of the town, Chabris and Charmis. 7 When they saw her transformed in
appearance and dressed differently, they were very greatly astounded at her beauty and
said to her, 8 ‘May the God of our ancestors grant you favour and fulfil your plans, so that
the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted.’She bowed down to God.
9 Then she said to them, ‘Order the gate of the town to be opened for me so that I may go
out and accomplish the things you have just said to me.’ So they ordered the young men
to open the gate for her, as she requested. 10 When they had done this, Judith went out,
accompanied by her maid. The men of the town watched her until she had gone down the
mountain and passed through the valley, where they lost sight of her.

11 As the women were going straight on through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met her
12 and took her into custody. They asked her, ‘To what people do you belong, and where
are you coming from, and where are you going?’ She replied, ‘I am a daughter of the
Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be handed over to you to be
devoured. 13 I am on my way to see Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him
a true report; I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country
without losing one of his men, captured or slain.’

14 When the men heard her words, and observed her face—she was in their eyes
marvellously beautiful—they said to her, 15 ‘You have saved your life by hurrying down
to see our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to
him. 16 When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart, but tell him what you have
just said, and he will treat you well.’

17 They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and
they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. 18 There was great excitement in the whole
camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent. They came and gathered around her
as she stood outside the tent of Holofernes, waiting until they told him about her. 19 They
marvelled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them by her. They said to one
another, ‘Who can despise these people, who have women like this among them? It is not
wise to leave one of their men alive, for if we let them go they will be able to beguile the
whole world!’

20 Then the guards of Holofernes and all his servants came out and led her into the tent.
21 Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy that was woven with purple and gold,
emeralds and other precious stones. 22 When they told him of her, he came to the front of
the tent, with silver lamps carried before him. 23 When Judith came into the presence of
Holofernes and his servants, they all marvelled at the beauty of her face. She prostrated
herself and did obeisance to him, but his slaves raised her up.

11Then Holofernes said to her, ‘Take courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart,
for I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth.
2 Even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never
have lifted my spear against them. They have brought this on themselves. 3 But now tell
me why you have fled from them and have come over to us. In any event, you have come
to safety. Take courage! You will live tonight and ever after. 4 No one will hurt you.

Rather, all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar.’
5 Judith answered him, ‘Accept the words of your slave, and let your servant speak in
your presence. I will say nothing false to my lord this night. 6 If you follow out the words
of your servant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to
achieve his purposes. 7 By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole earth, and by the
power of him who has sent you to direct every living being! Not only do human beings
serve him because of you, but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of
the air will live, because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. 8 For we
have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that
you alone are the best in the whole kingdom, the most informed and the most astounding
in military strategy.

9 ‘Now as for Achior’s speech in your council, we have heard his words, for the people
of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you. 10 Therefore, lord and
master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true. Indeed our
nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against
their God.

11 ‘But now, in order that my lord may not be defeated and his purpose frustrated, death
will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them by which they are about to provoke their
God to anger when they do what is wrong. 12 Since their food supply is exhausted and
their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their livestock and have
determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. 13 They have decided
to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had
consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in
Jerusalem—things it is not lawful for any of the people even to touch with their hands.
14 Since even the people in Jerusalem have been doing this, they have sent messengers
there in order to bring back permission from the council of the elders. 15 When the
response reaches them and they act upon it, on that very day they will be handed over to
you to be destroyed.

16 ‘So when I, your slave, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to
accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world wherever people shall hear
about them. 17 Your servant is indeed God-fearing and serves the God of heaven night and
day. So, my lord, I will remain with you; but every night your servant will go out into the
valley and pray to God. He will tell me when they have committed their sins. 18 Then I
will come and tell you, so that you may go out with your whole army, and not one of
them will be able to withstand you. 19 Then I will lead you through Judea, until you come
to Jerusalem; there I will set your throne. * You will drive them like sheep that have no
shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you. For this was told me to give me
foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you.’

20 Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants. They marvelled at her wisdom and
said, 21 ‘No other woman from one end of the earth to the other looks so beautiful or
speaks so wisely!’ 22 Then Holofernes said to her, ‘God has done well to send you ahead
of the people, to strengthen our hands and bring destruction on those who have despised
my lord. 23 You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech. If you do as you
have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the palace of King
Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world.’

12Then he commanded them to bring her in where his silver dinnerware was kept, and
ordered them to set a table for her with some of his own delicacies, and with some of his
own wine to drink. 2 But Judith said, ‘I cannot partake of them, or it will be an offence;
but I will have enough with the things I brought with me.’ 3 Holofernes said to her, ‘If
your supply runs out, where can we get you more of the same? For none of your people
are here with us.’ 4 Judith replied, ‘As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not
use up the supplies I have with me before the Lord carries out by my hand what he has
determined.’

5 Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight.
Towards the morning watch she got up 6 and sent this message to Holofernes- ‘Let my
lord now give orders to allow your servant to go out and pray.’ 7 So Holofernes
commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp for three days. She
went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp.
8 After bathing, she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his
people. 9 Then she returned purified and stayed in the tent until she ate her food towards
evening.

10 On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his personal attendants only, and did
not invite any of his officers. 11 He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his
personal affairs, ‘Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and
to eat and drink with us. 12 For it would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without
having intercourse with her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.’

13 So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and approached her and said, ‘Let this
pretty girl not hesitate to come to my lord to be honoured in his presence, and to enjoy
drinking wine with us, and to become today like one of the Assyrian women who serve in
the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.’ 14 Judith replied, ‘Who am I to refuse my lord? Whatever
pleases him I will do at once, and it will be a joy to me until the day of my death.’ 15 So
she proceeded to dress herself in all her woman’s finery. Her maid went ahead and spread
for her on the ground before Holofernes the lambskins she had received from Bagoas for
her daily use in reclining.

16 Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes’ heart was ravished with her and his
passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the
day he first saw her. 17 So Holofernes said to her, ‘Have a drink and be merry with us!’
18 Judith said, ‘I will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole
life.’ 19 Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him.

20 Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more
than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.

13When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from outside
and shut out the attendants from his master’s presence. They went to bed, for they all
were weary because the banquet had lasted so long. 2 But Judith was left alone in the tent,
with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was dead drunk.

3 Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to
come out, as she did on the other days; for she said she would be going out for her
prayers. She had said the same thing to Bagoas. 4 So everyone went out, and no one, either
small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in
her heart, ‘O Lord God of all might, look in this hour on the work of my hands for the
exaltation of Jerusalem. 5 Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out
my design to destroy the enemies who have risen up against us.’

6 She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung
there. 7 She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, ‘Give me
strength today, O Lord God of Israel!’ 8 Then she struck his neck twice with all her might,
and cut off his head. 9 Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy
from the posts. Soon afterwards she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid,
10 who placed it in her food bag.

Then the two of them went out together, as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They
passed through the camp, circled around the valley, and went up the mountain to Bethulia,
and came to its gates. 11 From a distance Judith called out to the sentries at the gates,
‘Open, open the gate! God, our God, is with us, still showing his power in Israel and his
strength against our enemies, as he has done today!’

12 When the people of her town heard her voice, they hurried down to the town gate and
summoned the elders of the town. 13 They all ran together, both small and great, for it
seemed unbelievable that she had returned. They opened the gate and welcomed them.
Then they lit a fire to give light, and gathered around them. 14 Then she said to them with
a loud voice, ‘Praise God, Opraise him! Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy
from the house of Israel, but has destroyed our enemies by my hand this very night!’
15 Then she pulled the head out of the bag and showed it to them, and said, ‘See here, the
head of Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, and here is the canopy beneath
which he lay in his drunken stupor. The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a
woman. 16 As the Lord lives, who has protected me on the way I went, I swear that it was
my face that seduced him to his destruction, and that he committed no sin with me, to
defile and shame me.’

17 All the people were greatly astonished. They bowed down and worshipped God, and
said with one accord, ‘Blessed are you our God, who have this day humiliated the
enemies of your people.’

18 Then Uzziah said to her, ‘O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all
other women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the
earth, who has guided you to cut off the head of the leader of our enemies. 19 Your praise *
will never depart from the hearts of those who remember the power of God. 20 May God
grant this to be a perpetual honour to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because
you risked your own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin,
walking inthe straight path before our God.’ And all the people said, ‘Amen. Amen.’

14Then Judith said to them, ‘Listen to me, my friends. Take this head and hang it upon
the parapet of your wall. 2 As soon as day breaks and the sun rises on the earth, each of
you take up your weapons, and let every able-bodied man go out of the town; set a
captain over them, as if you were going down to the plain against the Assyrian outpost;
only do not go down. 3 Then they will seize their arms and go into the camp and rouse the
officers of the Assyrian army. They will rush into the tent of Holofernes and will not find
him. Then panic will come over them, and they will flee before you. 4 Then you and all
who live within the borders of Israel will pursue them and cut them down in their tracks.
5 But before you do all this, bring Achior the Ammonite to me so that he may see and
recognize the man who despised the house of Israel and sent him to us as if to his death.’
6 So they summoned Achior from the house of Uzziah. When he came and saw the head
of Holofernes in the hand of one of the men in the assembly of the people, he fell down
on his face in a faint. 7 When they raised him up he threw himself at Judith’s feet, and did
obeisance to her, and said, ‘Blessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation those
who hear your name will be alarmed. 8 Now tell me what you have done during these
days.’

So Judith told him in the presence of the people all that she had done, from the day she
left until the moment she began speaking to them. 9 When she had finished, the people
raised a great shout and made a joyful noise in their town. 10 When Achior saw all that the
God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God. So he was circumcised, and joined the
house of Israel, remaining so to this day.

11 As soon as it was dawn they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall. Then they all
took their weapons, and they went out in companies to the mountain passes. 12 When the
Assyrians saw them they sent word to their commanders, who then went to the generals
and the captains and to all their other officers. 13 They came to Holofernes’ tent and said
to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, ‘Wake up our lord, for the slaves have
been so bold as to come down against us to give battle, to their utter destruction.’

14 So Bagoas went in and knocked at the entry of the tent, for he supposed that he was
sleeping with Judith. 15 But when no one answered, he opened it and went into the
bedchamber and found him sprawled on the floor dead, with his head missing. 16 He cried
out with a loud voice and wept and groaned and shouted, and tore his clothes. 17 Then he
went to the tent where Judith had stayed, and when he did not find her, he rushed out to
the people and shouted, 18 ‘The slaves have tricked us! One Hebrew woman has brought
disgrace on the house of King Nebuchadnezzar. Look, Holofernes is lying on the ground,
and his head is missing!’

19 When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard this, they tore their tunics and were
greatly dismayed, and their loud cries and shouts rose up throughout the camp.
15When the men in the tents heard it, they were amazed at what had happened.
2 Overcome with fear and trembling, they did not wait for one another, but with one
impulse all rushed out and fled by every path across the plain and through the hill country.
3 Those who had camped in the hills around Bethulia also took to flight. Then the
Israelites, everyone that was a soldier, rushed out upon them. 4 Uzziah sent men to
Betomasthaim * and Choba and Kola, and to all the frontiers of Israel, to tell what had
taken place and to urge all to rush out upon the enemy to destroy them. 5 When the
Israelites heard it, withone accord they fell upon the enemy, * and cut them down as far as
Choba. Those in Jerusalem and all the hill country also came, for they were told what had
happened in the camp of the enemy. The men in Gilead and in Galilee outflanked them
with great slaughter, even beyond Damascus and its borders. 6 The rest of the people of
Bethulia fell upon the Assyrian camp and plundered it, acquiring great riches. 7 And the
Israelites, when they returned from the slaughter, took possession of what remained.
Even the villages and towns in the hill country and in the plain got a great amount of
booty, since there was a vast quantity of it.

8 Then the high priest Joakim and the elders of the Israelites who lived in Jerusalem came
to witness the good things that the Lord had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to wish
her well. 9 When they met her, they all blessed her with one accord and said to her, ‘You
are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the great boast of Israel, you are the great pride of our
nation! 10 You have done all this with your own hand; you have done great good to Israel,
and God is well pleased with it. May the Almighty Lord bless you for ever!’ And all the
people said, ‘Amen.’

11 All the people plundered the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of
Holofernes and all his silver dinnerware, his beds, his bowls, and all his furniture. She
took them and loaded her mules and hitched up her carts and piled the things on them.
12 All the women of Israel gathered to see her, and blessed her, and some of them
performed a dance in her honour. She took ivy-wreathed wands in her hands and
distributed them to the women who were with her; 13 and she and those who were with her
crowned themselves with olive wreaths. She went before all the people in the dance,
leading all the women, while all the men of Israel followed, bearing their arms and
wearing garlands and singing hymns.

14 Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel, and all the people loudly sang this
song of praise. 16 1 And Judith said,

Begin a song to my God with tambourines,

sing to my Lord with cymbals.

Raise to him a new psalm;

exalt him, and call upon his name.

2 For the Lord is a God who crushes wars;

he sets up his camp among his people;

he delivered me from the hands of my pursuers.

3 The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north;

he came with myriads of his warriors;

their numbers blocked up the wadis,

and their cavalry covered the hills.

4 He boasted that he would burn up my territory,

and kill my young men with the sword,

and dash my infants to the ground,

and seize my children as booty,

and take my virgins as spoil.

5 But the Lord Almighty has foiled them

by the hand of a woman.

6 For their mighty one did not fall by the hands of the young men,

nor did the sons of the Titans strike him down,

nor did tall giants set upon him;

but Judith daughter of Merari

with the beauty of her countenance undid him.

7 For she put away her widow’s clothing

to exalt the oppressed in Israel.

She anointed her face with perfume;

8 she fastened her hair with a tiara

and put on a linen gown to beguile him.

9 Her sandal ravished his eyes,

her beauty captivated his mind,

and the sword severed his neck!

10 The Persians trembled at her boldness,

the Medes were daunted at her daring.

11 Then my oppressed people shouted;

my weak people cried out, and the enemy trembled;

they lifted up their voices, and the enemy were turned back.

12 Sons of slave-girls pierced them through

and wounded them like the children of fugitives;

they perished before the army of my Lord.

13 I will sing to my God a new song-

O Lord, you are great and glorious,

wonderful in strength, invincible.

14 Let all your creatures serve you,

for you spoke, and they were made.

You sent forth your spirit, and it formed them;

there is none that can resist your voice.

15 For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters;

before your glance the rocks shall melt like wax.

But to those who fear you

you show mercy.

16 For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing,

and the fat of all whole burnt-offerings to you is a very little thing;

but whoever fears the Lord is great for ever.

17 Woe to the nations that rise up against my people!

The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgement;

he will send fire and worms into their flesh;

they shall weep in pain for ever.

18 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they worshipped God. As soon as the people were
purified, they offered their burnt-offerings, their freewill-offerings, and their gifts.
19 Judith also dedicated to God all the possessions of Holofernes, which the people had
given her; and the canopy that she had taken for herself from his bedchamber she gave as
a votive offering. 20 For three months the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before
the sanctuary, and Judith remained with them.

21 After this they all returned home to their own inheritances. Judith went to Bethulia,
and remained on her estate. For the rest of her life she was honoured throughout the
whole country. 22 Many desired to marry her, but she gave herself to no man all the days
of her life after her husband Manasseh died and was gathered to his people. 23 She became
more and more famous, and grew old in her husband’s house, reaching the age of one
hundred and five. She set her maid free. She died in Bethulia, and they buried her in the
cave of her husband Manasseh; 24 and the house of Israel mourned her for seven days.
Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her
husband Manasseh, and to her own nearest kindred. 25 No one ever again spread terror
among the Israelites during the lifetime of Judith, or for a long time after her death.