World English Bible

1 IN the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana,

2 and built at Ecbatana and round about it walls of hewn stones three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits;

3 and set the towers thereof at the gates thereof, a hundred cubitshigh,and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits;

4 and made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty hosts, and the setting in array of his footmen:

5 even in those days king Nebuchadnezzar made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain: this plain is in the borders of Ragau.

6 And there came to meet him all that lived in the hill country, and all that lived by Euphrates, and Tigris, and Hydaspes, and in the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymaeans; and many nations of the sons of Chelod assembled themselves to the battle.

7 And Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians sent to all that lived in Persia, and to all that lived westward, to those that lived in Cilicia and Damascus and Libanus and Antilibanus, and to all that lived over against the sea coast,

8 and to those among the nations that were of Carmel and Gilead, and to the higher Galilee and the great plain of Esdraelon,

9 and to all that were in Samaria and the cities thereof, and beyond Jordan to Jerusalem, and Betane, and Chellus, and Kadesh, and the river of Egypt, and Tahpanhes, and Rameses, and all the land of Goshen,

10 until you come above Tanis and Memphis, and to all that lived in Egypt, until you come to the borders of Ethiopia.

11 And all they that lived in all the land made light of the commandment of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, and went not with him to the war; for they were not afraid of him, but he was before them as one man; and they turned away his messengers from their presence without effect, and with disgrace.

12 And Nebuchadnezzar was exceeding angry with all this land, and he sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all the coasts of Cilicia and Damascus and Syria, that he would kill with his sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all Judaea, and all that were in Egypt, until you come to the borders of the two seas.

13 And he set the battle in array with his host against king Arphaxad in the seventeenth year; and he prevailed in his battle, and turned to flight all the host of Arphaxad, and all his horse, and all his chariots;

14 and he became master of his cities, and he came even to Ecbatana, and took the towers, and spoiled the streets thereof, and turned the beauty thereof into shame.

15 And he took Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, and struck him through with his darts, and destroyed him utterly, to this day.

16 And he returned with them to Nineveh, he and all his company of sundry nations, an exceeding great multitude of men of war, and there he took his ease and banqueted, he and his host, a hundred and twenty days.

1 And in the eighteenth year, the two and twentieth day of the first month, there was talk in the house of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, that he should be avenged on all the land, even as he spoke.

2 And he called together all his servants, and all his great men, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and concluded the afflicting of all the land out of his own mouth.

3 And they decreed to destroy all flesh which followed not the word of his mouth.

4 And it came to pass, when he had ended his counsel, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his host, which was next after himself, and said to him,

5 Thus says the great king, the lord of all the earth, Behold, you shall go forth from my presence, and take with you men that trust in their strength, to a hundred and twenty thousand footmen; and the number of horses with their riders twelve thousand:

6 and you shall go forth against all the west country, because they disobeyed the commandment of my mouth.

7 And you shall declare to them, that they prepare earth and water; because I will go forth in my wrath against them, and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of my host, and I will give them for a spoil to them:

8 and their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks, and the river shall be filled with their dead, till it overflow:

9 and I will lead them captives to the utmost parts of all the earth.

10 But you shall go forth, and take beforehand for me all their coasts; andif they shall yield themselves to you, then shall you reserve them for me till the day of their reproof.

11 But as for them that are disobedient, your eye shall not spare; but you shall give them up to be slain and to be spoiled in all your land.

12 For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, I have spoken, and I will do this with my hand.

13 And you, moreover, shall not transgress anything of the commandments of your lord, but you shall surely accomplish them, as I have commanded you, and you shall not defer to do them.

14 And Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors and the captains and officers of the host of Asshur;

15 and he counted chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, to a hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback;

16 and he ranged them, as a great multitude is ordered for the war.

17 And he took camels and asses and mules for their baggage, an exceeding great multitude; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision;

18 and great store of victual for every man, and exceeding much gold and silver out of the king’s house.

19 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 horsemen and chosen footmen.

20 And a great company of sundry nations went forth with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for they could not be counted by reason of their multitude.

21 And they departed 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.

22 And he took all his host, his footmen and horsemen and chariots, and went away from thence into the hill country,

23 and destroyed Put and Lud, and spoiled all the children of Rasses, and the children of Ishmael, which were over against the wilderness to the south of the land of the Chellians.

24 And he went over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and brake down all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai, until you come to the sea.

25 And he took possession of the borders of Cilicia, and killed all that resisted him, and came to the borders of Japheth, which were toward the south, over against Arabia.

26 And he compassed about all the children of Midian, and set on fire their tents, and spoiled their sheepcotes.

27 And he went down into the plain of Damascus in the days of wheat harvest, and set on fire all their fields, and utterly destroyed their flocks and herds, and spoiled their cities, and laid their plains waste, and struck all their young men with the edge of the sword.

28 And the fear and the dread of him fell upon them that lived on the sea coast, upon them that were in Sidon and Tyre, and them that lived in Sur and Ocina, and all that lived in Jemnaan; and they that lived in Azotus and Ascalon feared him exceedingly.

1 And they sent to him messengers with words of peace, saying,

2 Behold, we the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the great king lie before you: use us as it is pleasing in your sight.

3 Behold, our dwellings, and all our country, and all our fields of wheat, and our flocks and herds, and all the sheepcotes of our tents, lie before your face: use them as it may please you.

4 Behold, even our cities and they that dwell in them are your servants: come and deal with them as it is good in your eyes.

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

6 And he came down toward the sea coast, he and his host, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for allies.

7 And they received him, they and all the country round about them, with garlands and dances and timbrels.

8 And he cast down all their borders, and cut down their groves: and it had been given to him to destroy all the gods of the land, that all the nations should worship Nebuchadnezzar only, and that all their tongues and their tribes should call upon him as god.

9 And he came towards Esdraelon near to Dotaea, which is over against the great ridge of Judaea.

10 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.

1 And the children of Israel that lived in Judaea heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and destroyed them utterly.

2 And they were exceedingly afraid before him, and were troubled for Jerusalem, and for the temple of the Lord their God:

3 because they were newly come up from the captivity, and all the people of Judaea were lately gathered together; and the vessels, and the altar, and the house, were sanctified after the profanation.

4 And they sent into every coast of Samaria, and to Konae, and to Beth-horon, and Belmaim, and Jericho, and to Choba, and Aesora, and to the valley of Salem;

5 and they possessed themselves beforehand of all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages that were in them, and laid up victual for the provision of war: for their fields were newly reaped.

6 And Joakim the high priest, which was in those days at Jerusalem, wrote to them that lived in Bethulia, and Betomesthaim, which is over against Esdraelon toward the plain that is near to Dothaim,

7 charging them to seize upon the ascents of the hill country; because by them was the entrance into Judaea, and it was easy to stop them from approaching, inasmuch as the approach was narrow,with spacefor two men at the most.

8 And the children of Israel did as Joakim the high priest had commanded them, and the senate of all the people of Israel, which lived at Jerusalem.

9 And every man of Israel cried to God with great earnestness, and with great earnestness did they humble their souls.

10 They, and their wives, and their babes, and their cattle, and every sojourner and hireling and servant bought with their money, put sackcloth upon their loins.

11 And every man and woman of Israel, and the little children, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the temple, and cast ashes upon their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord; and they put sackcloth about the altar:

12 and they cried to the God of Israel earnestly with one consent, that he would not give their babes for a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to profanation and reproach, for the nations to rejoice at.

13 And the Lord heard their voice, and looked upon their affliction: and the people continued fasting many days in all Judaea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.

14 And Joakim the high priest, and all the priests that stood before the Lord, and they that ministered to the Lord, had their loins girded about with sackcloth, and offered the continual burnt offering, and the vows and the free gifts of the people;

15 and they had ashes on their mitres: and they cried to the Lord with all their power, that he would look upon all the house of Israel for good.

1 And it was told Holofernes, the chief captain of the host of Asshur, that the children of Israel had prepared for war, and had shut up the passages of the hill country, and had fortified all the tops of the high hills, and had laid impediments in the plains:

2 and he was exceeding angry, and he called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,

3 and he said to them, Tell me now, you⌃ sons of Canaan, who is this people, that dwells in the hill country, and what are the cities that they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their host, and wherein is their power and their strength, and what king is set over them, to be the leader of their army;

4 and why have they turned their backs, that they should not come and meet me, more than all that dwell in the west.

5 And Achior, the leader of all the children of Ammon, said to him,

Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth concerning this people, which dwells in this hill country, near to the place where you dwell: and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of your servant.

6 This people are descended of the Chaldeans:

7 and they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they were not minded to follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of the Chaldeans.

8 And they departed from the way of their parents, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: and they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.

9 And their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Canaan: and they lived there, and were increased with gold and silver, and with exceeding much cattle.

10 And they went down into Egypt, for a famine covered all the land of Canaan; and there they sojourned, until they were grown up; and they became there a great multitude, so that one could not count their nation.

11 And the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtilly with them,and brought them low, making them to labor in brick, and made them slaves.

12 And they cried to their God, and he struck all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: and the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.

13 And God dried up the Red sea before them,

14 and brought them into the way of Sinai, and Kadesh-Barnea, and they cast out all that lived in the wilderness.

15 And they lived in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Heshbon, and passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.

16 And they cast out before them the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Shechemite, and all the Girgashites, and they lived in that country many days.

17 And while they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because God that hates iniquity was with them.

18 But when they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore, and were led captives into a land that was not theirs, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by their adversaries.

19 And now they are returned to their God, and are come up from the dispersion where they were dispersed, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country: for it was desolate.

20 And now, my lord and master, if there is any error in this people, and they sin against their God, we will consider what this thing is wherein they stumble, and we will go up and overcome them.

21 But if there is no lawlessness in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we shall be a reproach before all the earth.

22 And it came to pass, when Achior had finished speaking these words, all the people that compassed the tent and stood round about it murmured; and the great men of Holofernes, and all that lived by the sea side, and in Moab, spoke that he should kill him.

23 For, said they,we will not be afraid of the children of Israel: for, behold, it is a people that has no power nor might to make the battle strong.

24 Wherefore now we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all your army, lord Holofernes.

1 And when the tumult of the men that were about the council was ceased, Holofernes the chief captain of the host of Asshur said to Achior and to all the children ofMoab before all the people of the aliens,

2 And who are you, Achior, and the hirelings ofEphraim, that you have prophesied among us as today, and have said, that we should not make war with the race of Israel, because their God will defend them? And who is God but Nebuchadnezzar?

3 He shall send forth his might, and shall destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them: but we his servants shall strike them as one man; and they shall not sustain the might of our horses.

4 For with them we shall burn them up, and their mountains shall be drunken with their blood, and their plains shall be filled with their dead bodies, and their footsteps shall not stand before us, but they shall surely perish, says king Nebuchadnezzar, lord of all the earth: for he said, The words thatI have spoken shall not be in vain.

5 But you, Achior, hireling of Ammon, which have spoken these words in the day of your iniquity, shall see my face no more from this day, until I shall be avenged of the race of those that came out of Egypt.

6 And then shall the sword of mine army, and the multitude of them that serve me, pass through your sides, and you shall fall among their slain, when I shall return.

7 And my servants shall bring you back into the hill country, and shall set you in one of the cities of the ascents:

8 and you shall not perish, till you be destroyed with them.

9 And if you hope in your heart that they shall not be taken, let not your countenance fall. I have spoken it, and none of my words shall fall to the ground.

10 And Holofernes commanded his servants, that waited in his tent, to take Achior, and bring him back to Bethulia, and deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.

11 And his servants took him, and brought him out of the camp into the plain, and they removed from the midst of the plain country into the hill country, and came to the fountains that were under Bethulia.

12 And when the men of the city saw them on the top of the hill, they took up their weapons, and went out of the city against them to the top of the hill: and every man that used a sling kept them from coming up, and cast stones against them.

13 And they got them privily under the hill, and bound Achior, and cast him down, and left him at the foot of the hill, and went away to their lord.

14 But the children of Israel descended from their city, and came upon him, and loosed him, and led him away into Bethulia, and presented him to the rulers of their city;

15 which were in those days Ozias the son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris the son of Gothoniel, and Charmis the son of Melchiel.

16 And they called together all the elders of the city; and all their young men ran together, and their women, to the assembly; and they set Achior in the midst of all their people. And Ozias asked him of that which had happened:

17 and he answered and declared to them the words of the council of Holofernes, and all the words that he had spoken in the midst of the princes of the children of Asshur, and all the great words that Holofernes had spoken against the house of Israel.

18 And the people fell down and worshipped God, and cried, saying,

19 O Lord God of heaven, behold their arrogance, and pity the low estate of our race, and look upon the face of those that are sanctified to you this day.

20 And they comforted Achior, and praised him exceedingly.

21 And Ozias took him out of the assembly into his house, and made a feast to the elders; and they called on the God of Israel for help all that night.

1 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 beforehand the ascents of the hill country, and make war against the children of Israel.

2 And every mighty man of them removed that day, and the host of their men of war was a hundred and seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand horsemen, beside the baggage, and the men that were afoot among them, an exceeding great multitude.

3 And they encamped in the valley near to Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread themselves in breadth over Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, which is over against Esdraelon.

4 But the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude 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.

5 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.

6 But on the second day Holofernes led out all his horse in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia,

7 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.

8 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,

9 Let our lord now hear a word, that there be not an overthrow in your host.

10 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.

11 And now, my lord, fight not against them as men fight who join battle, and there shall not so much as one man of your people perish.

12 Remain in your camp, and keep safe every man of your host, and let your servants get possession of the fountain of water, which issues forth of the foot of the mountain:

13 because all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence; 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.

14 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.

15 And you shall render them an evil reward; because they rebelled, and met not your face in peace.

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

17 And the army of the children of Ammon removed, and with them five thousand of the children of Asshur, and they encamped in the valley, and seized upon the waters and the fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.

18 And the children of Esau went up with the children of Ammon, and encamped in the hill country over against Dothaim: and they sent some of them toward the south, and toward the east, over against Ekrebel, which is near to Chusi, that is upon the brook Mochmur; and the rest of the army of the Assyrians encamped in the plain, and covered all the face of the land; and their tents and baggage were pitched upon it in a great crowd, and they were an exceeding great multitude.

19 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord their God, for their spirit fainted; for all their enemies had compassed them round about, and there was no way to escape out from among them.

20 And all the army of Asshur remained about them, their footmen and their chariots and their horsemen, four and thirty days; and all their vessels of water failed all the inhabitants of Bethulia.

21 And the cisterns were emptied, and they had not water to drink their fill for one day: for they gave them drink by measure.

22 And their young children were out of heart, and the women and the young men fainted for thirst, and they fell down in the streets of the city, and in the passages of the gates, and there was no longer any strength in them.

23 And all the people were gathered together against Ozias, and against the rulers of the city, the young men and the women and the children, and they cried with a loud voice, and said before all the elders,

24 God be judge between you and us: because you⌃ have done us great wrong, in that you⌃ have not spoken words of peace with the children of Asshur.

25 And now we have no helper: but God has sold us into their hands, that we should be laid low before them with thirst and great destruction.

26 And now call them to you, and deliver up the whole city for a prey to the people of Holofernes, and to all his host.

27 For it is better for us to be made a spoil to them: for we shall be servants, and our souls shall live, and we shall not see the death of our babes before our eyes, and our wives and our children fainting in death.

28 We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God and the Lord of our fathers, which punishes us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day.

29 And there was great weeping of all with one consent in the midst of the assembly; and they cried to the Lord God with a loud voice.

30 And Ozias said to them, Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure five days, in the which space the Lord our God shall turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly.

31 But if these days pass, and there come no help to us, I will do according to your words.

32 And he dispersed the people, every man to his own camp; and they went away to the walls and towers of their city; and he sent the women and children into their houses: and they were brought very low in the city.

1 And in those days Judith heard thereof, the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Oziel, the son of Elkiah, the son of Ananias, the son of Gideon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Ahitub, the son of Elihu, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Salamiel, the son of Salasadai, the son of Israel.

2 And her husband was Manasses, of her tribe and of her family, and he died in the days of barley harvest.

3 For he stood over them that bound sheaves in the field, and the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in his city Bethulia: and they buried him with his fathers in the field which is between Dothaim and Balamon.

4 And Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months.

5 And she made her a tent upon the roof of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins; and the garments of her widowhood were upon her.

6 And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the Sabbaths, and the Sabbaths, and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons, and the feasts and joyful days of the house of Israel.

7 And she was of a goodly countenance, and exceeding beautiful to behold: and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants, and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them.

8 And there was none that gave her an evil word; for she feared God exceedingly.

9 And she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, because they fainted for lack of water; and Judith heard all the words that Ozias spoke to them, how he sware to them that he would deliver the city to the Assyrians after five days.

10 And she sent her maid, that was over all things that she had, to call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her city.

11 And they came to her, and she said to them,

Hear me now, O you⌃ rulers of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your word that you⌃ have spoken before the people this day is not right, and you⌃ have set the oath which you⌃ have pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you.

12 And now who are you⌃ that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men?

13 And now try the Lord Almighty, and you⌃ shall never know anything.

14 For you⌃ shall not find the depth of the heart of man, and you⌃ shall not perceive the things that he thinks: and how shall you⌃ search out God, which has made all these things, and know his mind, and comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger.

15 For if he be not minded to help us within these five days, he has power to defend us in such time as he will, or to destroy us before the face of our enemies.

16 But do not you⌃ pledge the counsels of the Lord our God: for God is not as man, that he should be threatened; neither as the son of man, that he should be turned by entreaty.

17 Wherefore let us wait for the salvation that comes from him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him.

18 For there arose none in our age, neither is there any of us today, tribe, or kindred, or family, or city, which worship gods made with hands, as it was in the former days;

19 for the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and fell with a great fall before our enemies.

20 But we know none other god beside him, wherefore we hope that he will not despise us, nor any of our race.

21 For if we be taken so, all Judaea shall sit upon the ground, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and of our blood shall he require the profanation thereof.

22 And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the land, and the desolation of our inheritance, shall he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach before them that take us for a possession.

23 For our bondage shall not be ordered to favor: but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonor.

24 And now, brethren, let us show an example to our brethren, because their soul hangs upon us, and the sanctuary and the house and the altar rest upon us.

25 Besides all this let us give thanks to the Lord our God, which tries us, even as he did our fathers also.

26 Remember all the things which he did to Abraham, and all the things in which he tried Isaac, and all the things which happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother.

27 For he has not tried us in the fire, as he did them, to search out their hearts, neither has he taken vengeance on us; but the Lord does scourge them that come near to him, to admonish them.

28 And Ozias said to her, All that you have spoken have you spoken with a good heart, and there is none that shall gainsay your words.

29 For this is not the first day wherein your wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of your days all the people have known your understanding, because the disposition of your heart is good.

30 But the people were exceeding thirsty, and compelled us to do as we spoke to them, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break.

31 And now pray you for us, because you are a godly woman, and the Lord shall send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more.

32 And Judith said to them, Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go down to all generations among the children of our race.

33 You⌃ shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go forth with my maid: and, within the days after which you⌃ said that you⌃ would deliver the city to our enemies, the Lord shall visit Israel by my hand.

34 But you⌃ shall not inquire of mine act: for I will not declare it to you, till the things be finished that I do.

35 And Ozias and the rulers said to her, Go in peace, and the Lord God be before you, to take vengeance on our enemies.

36 And they returned from the tent, and went to their stations.

1 But Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes upon her head, and uncovered the sackcloth wherewith she was clothed; and the incense of that evening was now being offered at Jerusalem in the house of God, and Judith cried to the Lord with a loud voice, and said,

2 O Lord God of my father Simeon, into whose hand you gave a sword to take vengeance of the strangers, who loosened the girdle of a virgin to defile her, and uncovered the thigh to her shame, and profaned the womb to her reproach; for you said, It shall not be so; and they did so:

3 wherefore you gave their rulers to be slain, and their bed,which was ashamed for her that was deceived, to be dyed in blood, and struck the servants with their lords, and the lords upon their thrones;

4 and gave their wives for a prey, and their daughters to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided among your dear children; which were moved with zeal for you, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called upon you for aid: O God, O my God, hear me also that am a widow.

5 For you wrought the things that were before those things, and those things, and such as ensued after; and you did devise the things which are now, and the things which are to come: and the things which you did devise came to pass;

6 yes, the things which you did determine stood before you, and said, Behold, we are here: for all your ways are prepared, and your judgement is with foreknowledge.

7 For, behold, the Assyrians are multiplied in their power; they are exalted with horse and rider; they have gloried in thestrength of their footmen; they have trusted in shield and spear and bow and sling; and they know not that you are the Lord that breaks the battles: the Lord is your name.

8 Dash you down their strength in your power, and bring down their force in your wrath: for they have purposed to profane your sanctuary, and to defile the tabernacle where your glorious name rests, and to cast down with the sword the horn of your altar.

9 Look upon their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads: give into my hand, which am a widow, the might that I have conceived.

10 Strike by the deceit of my lips the servant with the prince, and the prince with his servant: break down their stateliness by the hand of a woman.

11 For your power stands not in multitude, nor your might in strong men: but you are a God of the afflicted, you are a helper of theoppressed, an upholder of the weak, a protector of the forlorn, a savior of them that are without hope.

12 Yes, yes, God of my father, and God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of the heavens and of the earth. Creator of the waters, Kingof every creature, hear you my prayer:

13 and make my speech and deceit to be their wound and stripe, who have purposed hard things against your covenant, and your hallowed house, and the top of Sion, and the house of the possession of your children.

14 And make every nation and tribe of your to know that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is none other that protects the race of Israel but you.