4: So every one 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 upon the work of my hands for the exaltation of
Jerusalem.
5: For now is the time to help thy inheritance, and to carry out my
undertaking for the destruction of the enemies who have risen up against
us."
6: She went up to the post at the end of the bed, above Holofernes'
head, and took down his sword that hung there.
7: She came close to his bed and took hold of the hair of his head,
and said, "Give me strength this day, O Lord God of Israel!"
8: And she struck his neck twice with all her might, and severed it
from his body.
9: Then she tumbled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy
from the posts; after a moment 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 go for prayer; and they passed through
the camp and circled around the valley and went up the mountain to
Bethulia and came to its gates.
11: Judith called out from afar to the watchmen at the gates, "Open,
open the gate! God, our God, is still with us, to show his power in
Israel, and his strength against our enemies, even as he has done
this day!"
12: When the men of her city heard her voice, they hurried down to
the city gate and called together the elders of the city.
13: They all ran together, both small and great, for it was unbelievable
that she had returned; they opened the gate and admitted them, and
they kindled a fire for light, and gathered around them.
14: Then she said to them with a loud voice, "Praise God, O praise
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 Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy from the house of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 took the head out of the bag and showed it to them, and
said, "See, here is 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 in the way I went, it
was my face that tricked him to his destruction, and yet he committed
no act of sin with me, to defile and shame me."
17: All the people were greatly astonished, and bowed down and worshiped
God, and said with one accord, "Blessed art thou, our God, who
hast brought into contempt this day the enemies of thy people."
18: And Uzziah said to her, "O daughter, you are blessed by the
Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God,
who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike
the head of the leader of our enemies.
19: Your hope will never depart from the hearts of men, as they remember
the power of God.
20: May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he
visit you with blessings, because you did not spare your own life
when our nation was brought low, but have avenged our ruin, walking
in the straight path before our God." And all the people said,
"So be it, so be it!"
What is reprinted here came from a personal copy of The Holy Bible
(New Revised Standard Version) containing the Old and New Testaments
with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, Oxford University Press,
1989. If you would like to read the
entire Book of Judith please check out the Electronic
Text Center at the University of Virginia.
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