Apr 29 - Judith 1-5
Judith
1And so Arphaxad, king of the Medes, subjugated many nations under his authority, and he built a very powerful city, which he called Ecbatana2From stones, cut and squared, he made its walls: seventy cubits in height and thirty cubits in breadth. And, in truth, he set its towers one hundred cubits in height3In fact, at its corners, each side was extended for the space of twenty feet. And he set its gates according to the height of the towers4And he glorified it, in its power, with the force of his army and with the glory of his chariots5Thereafter, in the twelfth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Nineveh the great city, fought against Arphaxad and prevailed over him6in the great plain, which is called Ragae, near the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, at the encampment of Arioch, king of the Elymaeans7Then the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar was exalted, and his heart was elevated. And he sent to all who dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Lebanon8and to the nations that are in Carmel and Kedar, and to the inhabitants of Galilee, in the great plain of Esdrelon9and to all who were in Samaria and across the river Jordan, even to Jerusalem and to all the land of Jesse, until one passes through to the borders of Ethiopia10To all these, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, sent messengers11whom they all with one mind contradicted, and they sent them back empty, and they rejected them without honor12Then king Nebuchadnezzar, being indignant against all that land, swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would defend himself against all those regions
1In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, on the twenty-second day of the first month, the word went forth from the house of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, that he would defend himself2And he called all the native leaders, and all the commanders, and his officers of war, and he met with them in his secret council3And he said to them that his thoughts were to subjugate all the earth to his authority4And when this saying pleased them all, king Nebuchadnezzar called Holofernes, the leader of his military5And he said to him: "Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against those in particular who showed contempt for my authority6Your eye must not spare any kingdom, and all the fortified cities you will subjugate to me.7Then Holofernes called the commanders and the magistrates of the army of the Assyrians. And he numbered men for the expedition, just as the king had instructed him: one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and twelve thousand archers on horseback8And he caused his entire expeditionary force to go ahead with an innumerable multitude of camels, with whatever was needed in abundance for the armies, and with herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, which could not be numbered9He appointed grain to be prepared from all of Syria, as he passed through it10In fact, he took up gold and silver from the house of the king in great abundance11And he set out, he and all the army, with the four-horse chariots, and horsemen, and archers. And they covered the face of the earth like locusts12And when he had crossed over the borders of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of Cilicia. And he ascended to all their castles, and he prevailed over all the fortifications13Moreover, he broke open the renowned city of Melothus, and he pillaged all the sons of Tarshish, and the sons of Ishmael, who were opposite the face of the desert and to the south of the land of Cellon14And he crossed over the Euphrates and came into Mesopotamia. And he crushed all the lofty cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, even until one passes through to the sea15And he occupied its furthest regions, from Cilicia all the way to the coastlines of Japheth, which are towards the south16And he carried away all the sons of Midian, and he plundered them in all their wealthy regions. And all who resisted him, he slew with the edge of the sword17And after these things, he descended to the plains of Damascus, in the days of the harvest, and he set fire to all the crops, and he caused all the trees and the vineyards to be cut down18And the fear of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land
1Then the kings as well as the princes of the provinces sent their emissaries from all of the cities: from Syria, particularly Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya as well as Cilicia. These, upon coming to Holofernes, said2"Let your indignation concerning us cease. For it is better for us to live in service to Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, and to become subject to you, rather than to die, even though we may have to suffer our condemnation into the annihilation of slavery3All our cities and all our possessions, all mountains, and hills, and fields, and herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our resources and families are in your sight4Let all that we have be subject to your law5We, and our sons, are your servants6Come to us as a peaceful lord, and use our service, just as it pleases you.7Then he descended from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and he took charge of every city and of every inhabitant of the land8And, from all the cities, he took for himself auxiliaries: strong men and well-chosen for war9And such a dread lay upon those provinces, that the leading and honored inhabitants of all the cities, together with the people, went out to meet him at his arrival10They received him with garlands and lamps; they were led by choirs with timbrels and flutes11Yet, not even by doing these things were they able to mitigate the ferocity of his chest12For he both destroyed their cities and cut down their sacred groves13For king Nebuchadnezzar had instructed him to exterminate all the gods of the earth, evidently so that he alone might be called ‘god’ by those nations which were able to be subjugated by the power of Holofernes14But when he had passed through Syria Sobal, and all of Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans in the land of Gibeah15And he took their cities, and he sat there for thirty days, during which days he instructed all the troops of his army to regroup
1Then, upon hearing these things, the sons of Israel, who dwelt in the land of Judah, were very afraid before his face2Trembling and horror invaded their senses, lest he should do the same thing to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord that he had done to other cities and their temples3And they sent into all of Samaria, and by an indirect route even to Jericho, and they seized in advance all the tops of the mountains4And they surrounded their villages with walls, and they gathered together grain in preparation for the fight5And then Eliachim the priest wrote to all who were opposite Esdrelon, which is opposite the face of the great plain near Dothain, and to all whom he would be able to reach through a passable way6that they should hold the ascents of the mountains, through which there might be any passage able to reach Jerusalem, and that they should keep watch where the passage was narrow, wherever possible, between the mountains7And the sons of Israel did just as Eliachim, the priest of the Lord, had appointed them8And all the people cried out to the Lord with great urgency, and they humbled their souls with fastings, and prayers, both they and their wives9And the priests clothed themselves with haircloths, and they prostrated the little children opposite the face of the temple of the Lord, and they covered the altar of the Lord with haircloth10And they cried out to the Lord God of Israel with one accord, lest their children should be given over as prey, and their wives into distribution, and their cities into extermination, and their holy things into defilement, and so that they might not become the disgrace of the Gentiles11Then Eliachim, the high priest of the Lord, traveled all around Israel, and he was talking to them12saying: "Know that the Lord will heed your prayers, if you continue to persevere in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord13Recall that Moses, the servant of the Lord, overcame Amalek, who trusted in his own strength, and in his power, and in his army, and in his bronze shields, and in his swift chariots, and in his horsemen. He overcame him, not by fighting with iron, but by pleading with holy prayers14So will it be with all the enemies of Israel, if you persevere in this work that you have begun.15Therefore, by this exhortation and his prayer to the Lord, they continued in the sight of the Lord16so that even those who offered holocausts to the Lord, offered the sacrifices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and there were ashes upon their heads17And they all begged God with their whole heart, that he would visit his people Israel
1And it was reported to Holofernes, the leader of the military of the Assyrians, that the sons of Israel were preparing themselves to resist, and also that they had closed the mountain passes2And he was enraged with extreme fury and great indignation, and he called together all the leaders of Moab and the leaders of Ammon3And he said to them: "Tell me who this people may be, who obstruct the mountains. And which are their cities, and of what kind, and how many? And then, what may be their power, and what may be their number, and who is king over their military4And why have these, more than all who dwell in the east, shown contempt for us, and have not gone out to meet us, so that they might receive us with peace?5Then Achior, commander of all the sons of Ammon, responding, said: "If you would deign to listen, my lord, I will tell the truth in your sight about this people, who dwell in the mountains, and not a false word will go forth from my mouth6This people is from the progeny of the Chaldeans7These dwelt at first in Mesopotamia, because they were not willing to follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans8And so, forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which were with a multitude of gods9they worshipped one God of heaven, who also instructed them to go forth from that place and to dwell in Canaan. And when a famine covered the whole land, they went down into Egypt, and there, through four hundred years, they were so multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered10And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and also subjugated them to labor with clay and brick in the building of his cities, they cried out to their Lord, and he struck the entire land of Egypt with various plagues11And when the Egyptians had cast them away from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they were willing to seize them again and recall them to their servitude12the God of heaven opened the sea to these as they fled, so that the waters were made to stand firm like a wall on either side, and these walked across the bottom of the sea and passed through with dry feet13In that place, when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued after them, they were so overwhelmed with the waters, that not even one remained to report to posterity what had happened14In truth, going forth from the Red Sea, they occupied the deserts of mount Sinai, in which man could never dwell, nor a son of man take rest15In that place, bitter fountains became sweet for them to drink, and, through forty years, they continued to receive provisions from heaven16And, although they had entered without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought on their behalf and was victorious17And there was no one who could attack this people, except when they withdrew from the worship of the Lord their God18But as often as they worshipped any other, except their own God, they were delivered to plunder, and to the sword, and into reproach19But as often as they were repentant for having withdrawn from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them the power to resist20And, indeed, they overthrew the king of the Canaanites, and of the Jebusites, and of the Perizzites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites, and of the Amorrhites, and all the powerful ones in Hesebon, and these same possessed their lands and their cities21And, as long as they did not sin in the sight of their God, it was well with them. For their God hates iniquity22And even some years ago, when they had withdrawn from the way that their God had given them to walk, they were destroyed in battles by many nations and very many of them were led away captive into a land not their own23But, more recently, returning to the Lord their God, from the dispersion in which they had been scattered, they have united and have ascended into all these mountains, and they again possess Jerusalem, where their holy things are24Therefore, now my lord, inquire if there may be any iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God. If so, let us ascend to them, because their God will surely deliver them to you, and they will be subjugated under the yoke of your power25But if, in truth, there may be no offense of this people before their God, we will not be able to resist them, because their God will defend them, and we will become a disgrace to the whole earth.26And it happened, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they intended to execute him, saying to each other27"Who is this, that says the sons of Israel are able to resist king Nebuchadnezzar and his armies: unarmed men, and without strength, and without skill in the art of fighting28Therefore, so that Achior may know that he has failed us, let us ascend to the mountains. And, when the most powerful among them have been taken, then, with them, he will be impaled with the sword29So may every people know that Nebuchadnezzar is god of the earth, and there is no other, except him.