May 1 - Judith 9-12
Judith
1And when they were gone, Judith entered her place of prayer. And clothing herself with haircloth, she placed ashes on her head. And prostrating herself to the Lord, she cried out to the Lord, saying2"O Lord, God of my father Simeon, you gave him a sword to defend against foreigners, who stood out as violators by their defilement, and who uncovered the thigh of the virgin unto shame3And you gave their wives into plunder, and their daughters into captivity, and all their spoils to be divided to the servants, who were zealous with your zeal. Bring help, I ask you, O Lord my God, to me, a widow4For you have acted in the past, and you have decided one thing after another. And what you have willed, this too has happened5For all your ways have been prepared, and you have placed your judgments within your providence6Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, just as you deigned to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when their weapons rushed after your servants, trusting in their four-horse chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors7But you gazed upon their camp, and darkness wearied them8The abyss took hold of their feet, and the waters covered them9So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their swift chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and the glory in their lances10And they do not know that you are our God, who crushes wars from the beginning, and the Lord is your name11Raise up your arm, just as from the beginning, and throw down their power by your power. Let their power fall, in their anger, for they promise themselves to violate your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle of your name, and to cut down by their sword the horn of your altar12Act, O Lord, so that his arrogance may be cut off with his own sword13Let him be seized by the snare of his own eyes in my regard, and may you strike him by the attraction of my lips14Give me constancy in my soul, so that I may hold him in contempt, and give me virtue, so that I may overthrow him15For this will be a memorial to your name, when he will be overthrown by the hand of a woman16For your power, O Lord, is not in numbers, nor is your will with the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the arrogant been pleasing to you. But the pleas of the humble and the meek have always pleased you17O God of the heavens, Creator of the waters, and Lord of all creation, heed me, a miserable thing, pleading you and depending on your mercy18Remember, O Lord, your covenant, and put your words in my mouth, and reinforce the plan in my heart, so that your house may continue with your sanctification19and so that all the nations may acknowledge that you are God, and there is no other beside you.
1And it happened that, when she had ceased to cry out to the Lord, she arose from the place where she lay prostrate before the Lord2And she called her handmaid, and descending into her house, she took away from herself the haircloth, and she put away from herself the garments of her widowhood3and she washed her body, and she anointed herself with the best ointment, and she plaited the hair of her head, and she put a headdress on her head, and she clothed herself with the garments of her elegance, and she put sandals on her feet, and she put on her little bracelets, and lilies, and earrings, and rings, and she adorned herself with all her ornaments4And also, the Lord conferred upon her a splendor. For all this dressing up did not proceed from sensuality, but from virtue. And therefore, the Lord increased this, her beauty, so that she appeared with incomparable honor before the eyes of all5And so, she appointed to her handmaid a wineskin, and a vessel of oil, and parched grain, and dried figs, and bread, and cheese, and they departed6And when they came to the gate of the city, they found Uzziah and the elders of the city waiting7And when they saw her, being astounded, they wondered at her surpassing beauty8So, not questioning her at all, they dismissed her to go forth, saying: "May the God of our fathers give you grace, and may he strengthen all the advice of your heart with his virtue, so that Jerusalem may glory over you, and your name may be counted among the holy and the just.9And those who were there, all with one voice, said: "Amen. Amen.10In truth, Judith was praying to the Lord as she crossed through the gates, she and her handmaid11But it happened that, when she descended the mountain at about the break of day, the scouts of the Assyrians met her, and they stopped her, saying, "Where are you coming from? And where are you going?12And she answered: "I am a daughter of the Hebrews. This is why I have fled from their face: because I realized that in the future they would be given over to you with pillaging, for they hold you in contempt, and they would never be willing to surrender themselves, so that they might find mercy in your sight13For this reason, I thought to myself, saying: I will go to the face of the leader Holofernes, so that I may reveal to him their secrets, and show him by what means he may be able to prevail over them, without one man of his army being slain.14And when the men had heard her words, they beheld her face, and their eyes were astounded, because they wondered exceedingly at her beauty15And they said to her: "You have preserved your life by following such an excellent plan, to descend to our lord16But know this, that when you will stand in his sight, he will treat you well, and you will be very pleasing to his heart." And they led her to the tabernacle of Holofernes, announcing her17And when she had entered before his face, immediately Holofernes was captivated by his eyes18And his attendants said to him, "Who can hold the people of the Hebrews in contempt, who have such beautiful women? So, we ought to think it not worthwhile, for their sakes, to fight against them.19And so, Judith looked upon Holofernes, sitting under a canopy, which was woven from purple and gold, with emeralds and precious stones20And, after she had gazed into his face, she showed reverence for him, prostrating herself to the ground. And the servants of Holofernes lifted her up, at the command of their lord
1Then Holofernes said to her: "Be steadfast in soul, and do not be terrified in your heart. For I have never harmed a man who was willing to serve king Nebuchadnezzar2But if your people had not despised me, I would not have lifted up my lance over them3But now, tell me, for what reason have you withdrawn from them, and why has it pleased you to come to us?4And Judith said to him: "Receive the words of your maidservant. For, if you will follow the words of your maidservant, the Lord will accomplish an excellent thing by you5For, as Nebuchadnezzar the king of the earth lives, and as his power lives, which is with you for the chastising of all straying souls: not only men serve him through you, but also the beasts of the field are submissive to him6For the diligence of your mind is being reported to all nations, and it has been revealed to all of this age that you alone are good and powerful in all his kingdom, and your discipline is being announced beforehand in all the provinces7This is not hidden, what Achior has said, nor are we ignorant of what you have ordered to befall him8For it is agreed that our God is so offended with sins that he has commanded, through his prophets to the people, that he will deliver them up for their sins9And since the sons of Israel know that they have offended their God, your trembling is upon them10Moreover, now also a famine has assailed them, and, by drought of water, they are already counted among the dead11And finally, they have a plan to put to death their herds, and to drink their blood12And the sacred things of the Lord their God, which God instructed them not to touch, among the grain, wine, and oil, these they have decided to expend, and they are willing to consume the things that they ought not to touch with their hands. Therefore, because they do these things, it is certain that they will be given over to perdition13And I, your maidservant, knowing this, have fled from them, and the Lord has sent me to report to you these same things14For I, your maidservant, worship God even now that I am with you, and your maidservant will go out, and I will pray to God15And he will tell me when he will repay them for their sins, and I will return and announce it to you, so that I may bring you through the midst of Jerusalem, and you will hold all the people of Israel, like sheep that have no shepherd, and there will not be so much as one dog that barks against you16For these things have been told to me through the providence of God17And because God has been angry with them, I have been sent to report these same things to you.18And so, all these words were pleasing before Holofernes, and before his servants, and they wondered at her wisdom, and they said to one another19"There is not another woman so great upon the earth: in appearance, in beauty, and in charming words.20And Holofernes said to her: "God has done well, who sent you ahead of the people, so that you may give them into our hands21And if your promise is good, if your God will do this for me, he will also be my God, and you will be great in the house of Nebuchadnezzar, and your name will be renowned through all the earth.
1Then he ordered her to enter where his valuables were stored, and he ordered her wait there, and he appointed what should be given to her from his own feast2And Judith responded to him, and she said: "Now, I am not able to eat from these things which you instructed to be allotted to me, lest an offense come upon me. But I will eat from that which I have brought.3And Holofernes said to her, "If these things that you have brought with you should fail you, what shall we do for you?4And Judith said, "As your soul lives, my lord, your maidservant will not expend all these things, until God accomplishes by my hand what I have in mind." And his servants led her into the tabernacle, as he instructed5And, as she was entering, she requested that it be permitted to her to go outside at night, before daylight, in order to pray and to petition the Lord6And he instructed his chamberlains that she may exit and enter, just as it may please her, to adore her God, for three days7And she went out in the nights into the valley of Bethulia, and she washed herself in a fountain of water8And, as she climbed up, she prayed to the Lord God of Israel that he would direct her way, to the liberation of his people9And entering, she remained pure in the tabernacle, until she received her own food in the evening10And it happened on the fourth day that Holofernes made a supper for his servants, and he said to Vagao his eunuch: "Go, and persuade that Hebrew woman to willingly consent to live with me11For it is disgraceful among the Assyrians, if a woman mocks a man, acting so as to pass through with immunity from him.12Then Vagao entered toward Judith, and he said, "May she not dread, my good young woman, to enter to my lord, so that she may be honored before his face, so that she may eat with him and drink wine with cheerfulness.13Judith answered him: "Who am I, that I should contradict my lord14All that will be good and best before his eyes, I will do. Moreover, whatever will please him, to me, that will be what is best, all the days of my life.15And she arose and dressed herself with her garments, and entering, she stood before his face16But the heart of Holofernes was struck. For he was burning with desire for her17And Holofernes said to her, "Drink now, and recline with cheerfulness, for you have found favor before me.18And Judith said, "I will drink, my lord, because my soul has been magnified this day, beyond all my days.19And she accepted and ate and drank in his sight what her handmaid had prepared for her20And Holofernes became pleased with her, and he drank very much wine, more than he had ever drunk in his life