 友:1.(jdt)  [友弟德傳]  Judith   [共 16 章]   [思高聖經]
  
 友:1.1      拿步高在尼尼微大城為亞述王第十二年，那時阿法撒得也在厄克巴塔為瑪待王。
 友:1.2      阿法撒得在厄克巴塔周圍，用鑿成寬三肘，長六肘的石塊，修建了一座高七十肘，寬五十肘的城垣。
 友:1.3      在城門旁，還建築了一些碉樓，高一百肘，基寬六十肘；
 友:1.4      又修了城門，高達七十肘，寬四十肘，以便他的大軍可以出發，步隊可以列隊而行。
 友:1.5      這些，拿步高王在辣高境內一個大平原上，與阿法撒得王作戰。
 友:1.6      凡居住在山地、幼發拉的、底格里斯、依達斯貝，以及屬厄藍王阿黎約客的平原上的人民，都支持阿法撒得；因此有許多民族前來參加赫婁得的戰爭。
 友:1.7      亞述王拿步高遂向波斯所有居民，向西方所有居民：即住在基里基雅、大馬士革、黎巴嫩、安提黎黎巴嫩，以及所有沿海一帶的人，
 友:1.8      向加爾默耳、基肋阿得、上加里肋亞、厄斯得隆大平原的民族，
 友:1.9      向撒馬黎雅及所屬城鎮，向約旦河西岸直到耶路撒冷、巴塔乃、赫婁斯、卡德士的居民，向埃及河、塔弗乃、辣默色斯及哥笙全境，
 友:1.10     直到塔尼斯上部與孟非斯的居民，向住在埃及及至厄提約丕邊疆上的居民，派遣使節；
 友:1.11     但上述各地的居民，都輕視拿步高的號召，不肯與他連盟參戰，也不怕他看他不過如一常人，叫他的使者空手遯羞而回。
 友:1.12     拿步高對這些國家大怒，即指著自己的御座和帝國發誓，必雪此恨，要用刀兵消滅基里基雅、大馬士革和敘利亞全境，以及摩阿布境內一切居民，阿孟子民，猶太國與埃及，直到兩海邊境間的一切居民。
 友:1.13     第十三年，他果然率領大軍，進攻阿撒得王，一戰告捷，使阿法撒得的全軍，馬隊戰車，全部潰敗，
 友:1.14     遂佔領他的城池，來到厄克巴塔納，奪取城樓，沿街掠奪，仗京華便為恥辱。
 友:1.15     後又在辣高山上，擒獲了阿法撒得，命自己的槍手當天刺殺了他。
 友:1.16     然後率領大軍，並所有龐大的混合軍隊回了國。在國內與自己的軍隊；慶祝宴樂，凡一百二十日。
  
 友:2.1      十八年正月二十二日，在亞述王拿步高宮內，舉行會議，商討如何依照王的吩咐，向各國報復雪恨之事。
 友:2.2      君王召集了所有的臣僕和公卿，向他們說明自己懷恨的心願，決意親口下令滅絕那些國家；
 友:2.3      大家一致表決，凡不聽從君王號召的人，都應剷除。
 友:2.4      開會議決後，亞述王拿步高就將他的總司令，兼居全國次位的敖羅斐乃召來，對他說：
 友:2.5      「大王，全世界之主這樣說：看，你應離我出征，率領饒勇善戰的人，止兵十二萬，一萬兩千戰馬及騎士，
 友:2.6      去攻打西方各國，因為沒有聽從我的命令；
 友:2.7      通知他們準備好山河，因為我要滿懷憤怒來攻打他們，以我軍的腳掌，遮蓋他們的地面，使他們遭受浩劫，
 友:2.8      使傷者填滿溝壑，死者充塞江河致使河水泛濫。
 友:2.9      將他們的俘擄，放逐到大地四極。
 友:2.10     今你出征，首先代我佔領那所有的領土，如果人自願向你請降，你就給我保留，等懲治他們的日子來到。
 友:2.11     對不投降的，你的眼不用顧惜，在你佔領區內，任人屠殺搶掠。
 友:2.12     我既以我的性命作擔保，以帝國的權威下令，也必親手執行。
 友:2.13     至於你，不可違反你主上的任何命令，但應照我吩咐你的，盡心辦理，切勿怠慢! 」
 友:2.14     敖羅斐乃辭別主上出來，就召集亞述的眾將領，司令和武官，
 友:2.15     依照主上所命的，數點了出征的精兵，約十二萬人，騎兵射手一萬二千，
 友:2.16     將他們分編成為作戰的隊伍。
 友:2.17     後又牽來許多駱駝驢騾，載運輜重，趕來無數的綿羊、牛和山羊，充當軍需；
 友:2.18     又給眾人分發了大批給養，再由王庫，支取了大批金銀，
 友:2.19     然後率領大軍出發，作拿步高王的先鋒，以戰車馬隊和精兵，遮蓋西方的地面。
 友:2.20     另有很多混合的軍人，多如蝗蟲塵沙，也跟隨出征，人數眾多，無法統計。
 友:2.21     他們出了尼尼微城，行軍三日，到了貝克提肋特平原，便靠近貝克提肋特，在上哥爾基雅北邊的山嶺安營。
 友:2.22     敖羅斐乃後又率領大軍：步兵、騎兵、戰車，由那裏往山地進發，
 友:2.23     擊敗了普特和路得，掠奪了辣息斯的眾子民，以及住在赫肋人以南的曠野對面的依市瑪耳子民。
 友:2.24     渡過幼發拉的河，穿過美索不達米，破壞了沿哈波爾河至海一帶的堅城。
 友:2.25     以後佔領了基里基雅的地方，粉碎一切抵抗，來到位於阿刺伯對面南部的雅敖斐邊境，
 友:2.26     圍攻了米德揚的眾子民，焚毀了他們的帳幕，劫奪了他們的羊圈。
 友:2.27     到了收割麥子的時候，便下到大馬士革平原，放炎燒田，搜殺牛羊，劫掠城市，破壞莊田，刀斬青年。
 友:2.28     因此，凡住在海邊、漆東、提洛、穌爾、敖基基納、雅木尼雅的人都戰兢害怕，阿左托及阿市刻隆各地的居民，對他更是萬分恐懼害怕。
  
 友:3.1      他們便派遣使者同他商議和平說：
 友:3.2      「看，我們是拿步高大王的奴隸，俯伏在你面前，你看怎樣好，就怎樣處置我們吧!
 友:3.3      看，我們的住宅、所有的土地和麥田，以及羊群牛群，帳幕旁所有的羊圈，都擺你面前，你可任意取用。
 友:3.4      看，我們的城與城中的居民，都是你的奴僕，你來，看著怎樣好，就怎樣對待他們吧! 」
 友:3.5      使者來到敖羅斐乃前，就向他說了這些話。
 友:3.6      他便同他的軍隊，下到沿海一帶，派人據守設防的城，又在他們中選拔壯丁，作後備兵。
 友:3.7      城中的居民，及其附近境內的人民，都帶著花冠，跳著舞，敲   著鼓，出來迎接他。
 友:3.8      但是，他還要破壞他們的聖地，砍伐他們的神林，因為他曾受命，要剷除地上所有的神祗，使萬國一致崇拜拿步高一人，萬民異口同聲稱他為神。
 友:3.9      隨後來到厄斯得隆對面，即猶太平原前的多堂附近，
 友:3.10     安營在革巴與史托頗里之間。在那裏駐紮了一個月，為把自己部隊的輜重集合起來。
  
 友:4.1      就在猶太的以色列子民，聽說亞述王拿步高的統帥敖羅斐乃對異民所行的一切，如何搶劫破壞了他們的一切廟宇，
 友:4.2      住萬分害怕，為耶路撒冷與上主他們的天主的聖殿非常擔心，
 友:4.3      因為他們才從充軍之地歸來，全猶太人民重新聚合不久，剛把器皿、祭壇、聖殿在經過褻瀆之後，從新祝聖。
 友:4.4      因此，他們便打發使者到撒馬黎雅全境，到科納、貝特曷龍、貝耳瑪因、耶利哥、苛把、愛索辣與撒冷山谷一帶，
 友:4.5      囑咐他們先要佔領各高山的山頂，在山上的村莊，修築防禦工事，儲蓄糧食，準備應戰，好在他們的田園才收穫不久。
 友:4.6      當時正在耶路撒冷當司祭的約雅金，給在拜突里雅及位於厄斯得隆前，多堂附近平原對面的拜托默斯坦城的人民，寫了一封信，
 友:4.7      吩咐他們應把守上山進入猶太道路，因為這道路狹隘，只能通過兩人，很容易阻止敵人進攻。
 友:4.8      以色列子民就遵照大司祭約雅金，以及位於耶路撒冷以色列人民的長老院的吩咐辦了。
 友:4.9      全以色列人，都熱切呼號天主，極力自卑自謙。
 友:4.10     他們和妻子兒女，牲畜旅客，傭工奴婢，都腰裏束著苦衣。
 友:4.11     凡住在耶路撒冷的以色列男女老幼，都俯伏在聖殿前，頭上撒灰，在上主面前，展開苦衣；
 友:4.12     即是祭壇，也圍上苦衣，誠人熱切同呼求以色列的天主，不讓敵人來劫掠自己的幼童，擄掠自己的婦女，毀滅自己產業中的城邑，輕蔑污辱自己的聖所，而使異民得意歡騰。
 友:4.13     上主俯聽了他們的哀聲，憐視了他們的苦難。全猶太和耶路撒冷的百姓，在全能上主的聖所前，禁食多日。
 友:4.14     大司祭約雅金，以及一切侍立在上主面前的人，司祭與上主的僕役，都腰束苦衣，奉獻恒常的全燔祭，奉獻人民許願和自願上的供物，
 友:4.15     在頭巾上撒灰，高聲呼求上主，眷顧以色列全家。
  
 友:5.1      那時，有人向亞述軍隊的統帥敖羅斐乃報告說：「以色列子民已準備應戰，封鎖山地隘口，在高山上修築了防禦工事，平原中已下埋伏」。
 友:5.2      他遂教然大怒，召集所有摩阿布的公侯，阿孟的司令，及沿海一帶的長官來，
 友:5.3      對他們說：「客納罕的子民! 請告訴我，這山地裏住的是什麼民族﹖他們住的是什麼城池﹖部隊的人數究有多少﹖他們的力量和勇氣，究在什麼事上﹖作他們的君王，率領他們的軍隊的是誰﹖
 友:5.4      為什麼在西方諸民族中，只有他們不屑前來歡迎我﹖」
 友:5.5      於是全阿孟子民的統帥阿希約爾便對他們說：「我主! 請聽你僕人一言，我要向你說明，這住在山地離你不遠的民族，是什麼情形；你僕人口中所說的，決沒有一句虛話。
 友:5.6      這民族原是加爾底亞人的後裔，
 友:5.7      原先僑居在美索不達米亞，因為不願隨從自己祖先所居加爾底地的神祗，
 友:5.8      就離棄了自己祖先的途徑，而崇拜天上的大主，一位自己所承認的神。所以他們被那裏的神祗所驅逐，逃到美索不達米亞，僑居在那裏很久。
 友:5.9      後來他們的天主，吩咐他們離開他們僑居的地方，往客納罕地方去，就住在那裏，積畜了大批金銀和許多家畜。
 友:5.10     後又因客納罕地方連年飢荒，便下到埃及，居留在那裏，直到他們能自養自足；在那裏竟成了一個大族，子孫眾多，不可勝數。
 友:5.11     但埃及王卻苛待他們，逼令他們作做磚的苦工，壓迫他們，當作奴隸。
 友:5.12     於是他們向自己的天主哀號，天主就以不治之症，打擊了埃及全境；埃及人就將他們趕走。
 友:5.13     天主使紅海在他們面前乾涸，
 友:5.14     他們沿著西乃和卡德士巴爾乃亞的前進，他們將曠野中的居民完全驅逐，
 友:5.15     住在阿摩黎人的境內，以武力消滅了一切赫市朋人，繼而渡過約旦河，佔領了整個山地，據為己有，
 友:5.16     將客納罕人、培黎齊人、耶步斯人、舍根人和一切基爾加史人，都由自己的面前趕走，住在那裏很久。
 友:5.17     當他們不犯罪得罪自己的天主時，便常享幸福，因為有一位嫉惡的天主，與他們同在。
 友:5.18     但在他們離開天主給他們所指示的道路時，便在戰爭中受到殲滅，被擄到異鄉，他們天主的殿宇也被毀為平地，城市都為敵人所佔據。
 友:5.19     可是現在，自從他們歸向天主以來，就由散居的地方回來，收復了他們的聖殿的所在地耶路撒冷，住在已變為荒蕪的山地。
 友:5.20     主帥! 假使這個民族作惡，得罪他們的天主，如果我們發現他們有這「致命傷」，就可甘去進攻，必能戰勝。
 友:5.21     若是這沒有什麼不法的事，請我主放過他們，免得他們的上主天主庇護他們，使我們在全世界成為人的笑柄」。
 友:5.22     阿希約爾一說完這話，站在營幕周圍的眾人，怨聲四起，敖羅斐乃的軍官和一切住在沿海與摩阿布一帶的人，都聲言要將他碎屍萬段：
 友:5.23     「我們不應該怕以色列子民! 這個決沒有勇氣和能力，與勁旅相對抗。
 友:5.24     敖羅斐乃主帥! 我們應上前進攻，他們必能為你的伓軍所撲滅。
  
 友:6.1      會議廳周圍的人怨聲一停止，亞述軍隊總司令敖羅斐乃，在全體外邦民族前，向阿希約爾及一切阿孟子民說：
 友:6.2      「你這阿希約爾，你們這些厄弗辣因的傭兵，算得什麼﹖今日竟對我們說預言，勸我們不要攻打以色列民族，說他們的天主會庇護他們! 拿步高外，還有誰是天主﹖他打發他的兵力，要從地面上將他們消滅，這不是他們的天主所能施救的!
 友:6.3      我們當他僕人的，攻打他們就像打一個人，他們決抵擋不住我們的馬隊的威力。
 友:6.4      我們的馬隊要將他們踏碎，使他們的山嶺飲他們的血，使他們的平原充滿他們的屍首；他們在我們跟前決不能立足，必要完全滅亡：這是全世界之王拿步高說的。他既如此說了，他的話，決不會落空。
 友:6.5      至於你，阿孟的傭工阿希約爾! 你說這樣的話，是存心不良，從今天起，直到我向這逃出埃及的民族復了仇，你不要再見我的面。
 友:6.6      當我回來時，我軍隊的刀劍，我僕從的長槍，要刺穿你的肋旁，你要倒臥在傷亡者中。
 友:6.7      我的僕人如今要送你到山地，將你棄置在一座位於隘道中的城中，
 友:6.8      你暫不會死，直到你與他們同歸於盡!
 友:6.9      如果你真希望這些城池不陷落，那又可必垂頭喪氣! 我已說了，我的話一句也不會落空! 」
 友:6.10     敖羅斐乃遂吩咐侍立在營幕內的僕人，捉住阿希約爾，送到拜突里雅，交給以色列子民。
 友:6.11     他的僕人就捉住他，領到營外平原，再由平原帶到山上，直到拜突里雅城下的水泉旁。
 友:6.12     那在山頂城中的人一見他們，就拿起武器，由山頂的城出來，同時所有的彈石射手，向他們拋石，擋住上來的路。
 友:6.13     那些人伏在山下，將阿希約爾綑了，拋棄在山麓，然後回到自己主帥那裏。
 友:6.14     以色列子民由城中下來，走到他跟前，將他解開，帶到拜突里雅，引他去見城中首長。
 友:6.15     那時城中首長，有西默盎支派的米加的兒子敖齊雅，還有哥托尼耳的兒子加布黎，默耳基耳的兒子加爾米。
 友:6.16     他們遂召集城裏所有的長老：眾青年和婦女也都趕來參加集會。阿希約爾站在民眾中間，敖齊雅就問他發生了什麼事。
 友:6.17     他立即回答，將敖羅斐乃在會議中的議案，將自己在亞述子民首領中所說的，都一一告訴了他們。
 友:6.18     在場的人民於是俯伏在地，朝拜天主，呼喊說：「上主，天上的大主，你看看他們的驕傲，可憐我們民族所受的苦辱，
 友:6.19     你今日眷顧那奉獻於你的人民! 」
 友:6.20     他們遂安慰阿希約爾，對他大加稱讚。
 友:6.21     敖齊雅以後由會場中，引他到自己家裏，且設宴款待長老。那一夜，他們終夜呼求以色列的天主救助。
  
 友:7.1      次日，敖羅斐乃下令全軍和前來與他聯盟的隊伍，拔營向拜突里雅進發，先佔領通往山地的隘口，向以色列人民挑戰。
 友:7.2       天，軍隊全體出發；作戰的隊伍，有步兵十七萬，騎兵一萬二千；此外還有輜重隊，和隨軍步行的人，多得不可勝數；
 友:7.3       靠近拜突里雅的山谷中，在水泉旁安營。營幕綿廷，長度由多堂到貝耳瑪因，寬度由拜突里雅到厄斯得隆對面的夸孟。
 友:7.4       色列子民一見如此眾多的軍隊，驚慌非常，都彼此說：「如今必將全地面一掃而光，連高山、幽谷、丘陵都負擔不了他們的壓力」。
 友:7.5       以色列還是各自拿著武器，在碉樓上點起烽火，那一整夜留守戒備。
 友:7.6       二天，敖羅斐乃把全部馬隊，開到住在拜突里雅的以色列人民面前，
 友:7.7       探明了通往該城的山路，尋得了水泉，派兵佔據把守，然後回到自己部隊那裏去了。
 友:7.8       撒烏子民的眾長官，摩阿布民族的眾首領，和沿海一帶的司令，都來向敖羅斐乃說：
 友:7.9       願我們的主帥聽一個建議，免得你的軍隊受害。
 友:7.10     以色列這個民族，原不仗依槍矛，惟獨倚靠所住的高山，因為攀登他們的山頂，並不是一件易事。
 友:7.11     主帥，如今不要同他們列陣交戰，如此你的軍人一個也不會傷亡。
 友:7.12     你可留在營中，督守你軍中所有的人馬，只讓你的僕役去佔領山麓下湧出來的水泉，
 友:7.13     因為凡住在拜突里雅的人，都從那裏汲水。他們沒有水喝，勢必將城交出。同時我們率領我們的軍人，上到附近的山頂上安營，監視他們，不許一人走出城來。
 友:7.14     他們的妻子兒女必飢餓得衰弱無力，刀劍還未臨到身上，他們已躺臥在靠近家門的街道上了。
 友:7.15     這樣你可惡毒地報復他們，因為他們頑抗，沒有歡迎你」。
 友:7.16     他們的建議，大得敖羅斐乃和他軍官們的歡心。於是下令，依照這建議辦理。
 友:7.17     摩阿布子民就移營出發，與他們同去的，還有五千亞述人，駐紮在山谷中，佔領了以色列子民的水渠和水泉。
 友:7.18     厄撒烏子孫及阿孟子民，也與一萬二千亞述人上去，紮營在多堂對面的山地。又從他們中派遣人，往厄格勒貝耳對面的東南方去，──厄格貝耳是在摩客慕爾河旁的雇士附近，──其餘的亞述軍隊，駐紮在平原上，遮蓋了地面；帳幕和輜重，堆集如山，多不勝數。
 友:7.19     以色列子民見自己四面受敵，不能逃出，都提心吊膽，遂向上主他們的天主哀號。
 友:7.20     這時亞述大軍，即所有步兵、戰車、馬隊包圍他們，已經三十四天了。拜突里雅居民所有的蓄水器，都已空了，
 友:7.21     蓄水池都乾了。人沒有一天可得暢飲，因為水是分配給人喝的。
 友:7.22     他們的幼兒渴得沒有氣力，婦女和青年渴得發暈，倒在城內大街上和門口，再也沒有一點力氣。
 友:7.23     於是全體民眾、青年、婦女和幼童，都聚集在敖齊雅及城中首長那裏，大聲疾呼，堂著眾長老說：
 友:7.24     「願天主在你們與我們之間，施行審判! 因為你們不同亞述人說和，我們遭此大禍。
 友:7.25     如今我們不但沒有救援，連天主也將我們交在他手中，叫我們飢渴而死，都倒斃在他們面前。
 友:7.26     現今你們就叫他們進來，把全城交給敖羅斐乃的人民和大軍，任憑他們搶掠。
 友:7.27     我們更好當他們的戰利品，因為我們雖然身為奴隸，但可保全性命，不致於眼看我們幼童夭亡，我們的妻子兒女，斷送性命。
 友:7.28     我們當著上天下地，因著我們的天主，即因懲罰我們的罪過，及我們祖先過犯的我們祖先的上主，懇求你們設法，別叫天主今日按照這些話來處置我們! 」
 友:7.29     集會的民眾遂不約而同，都放聲痛哭，向上主天主大聲哀號。
 友:7.30     敖齊雅遂對他們說：「弟兄們! 振作精神，再忍耐五天，也許上主我們的天主，在這個時期內，向我們再施行祂的仁慈，因為祂決不會永遠拋棄我們!
 友:7.31     如果薆了這日期，仍得不到救援，我就依照你們的話辦理」。
 友:7.32     遂遺散眾人各歸本營、城牆和城樓上；婦女幼童，一一遺送回家；當時全城陷於沮喪與絕望。
  
 友:8.1      在那幾天，默辣黎的女兒友弟德也聽說了這些事。──默辣黎是敖克斯的兒子，敖克斯是若瑟的兒子，若瑟是敖齊耳的兒子，敖齊耳是厄耳基雅的兒子，厄耳基雅是阿納尼雅的兒子，阿納尼雅是基德紅的兒子，基德紅是辣法因的兒子，辣法因是阿希突布的兒子，阿希突布是厄里亞的兒子，厄里亞是希耳基雅的兒子，希耳基雅是厄里雅布的兒子，厄里雅布是納塔納耳的兒子，塔納耳是撒拉米耳的兒子，撒拉米耳是撒拉撒待的兒子，撒拉待撒是西默盎的兒子，西默盎是以色列的兒子。──
 友:8.2      她的丈夫默納舍與她同支派又同家族，是在收大麥時死的；
 友:8.3      他在田間督工人梱麥穗時，不料頭部中暑，一病不起，死在拜突里雅本城；人將他葬在多堂及把拉孟之間的祖塋裏。
 友:8.4      這時友弟德居家守寡，已有三年零四個月。
 友:8.5      她在屋頂上，搭了一個帳幕，腰束苦帶，身穿寡婦衣飾。
 友:8.6      除了安息前日與安息日，月朔前日與月朔，以及以色列家的慶期與慶典外，在她居寡期內，天天禁食。
 友:8.7      她的容貌姣美，艷麗好看。她的丈夫默納舍，留下了不少金銀、奴婢、牲畜與田產，她堅守遺業，
 友:8.8      很敬畏天主，所以說她一句壞話的人也沒有。
 友:8.9      她聽說百姓因為缺水，精神頹唐，向首長提出了嚴重的抗議。友弟德又聽說，敖齊雅向他們所說的話，如何向他們發誓，五天以後，必將城池交給亞述人。
 友:8.10     她便打發自己管家的使女，去召請城裏的長老加布黎和加爾米來。
 友:8.11     他們一來到，友弟德就對他們說：「拜突里雅的居民的首長，請聽我說! 你們今天在百姓前說的話，實在不對；同時竟然對天主發誓，說五天以後，上主若不來援救，就將城池交給敵人。
 友:8.12     你們是什麼人，今日竟敢試探天主，在人類中竟居天主之上﹖
 友:8.13     如今儘管試驗全能的上主吧! 可是你們紿終一無所知!
 友:8.14     你們既不能探知人的心曲，又不能明悉人明悟中的思念，如何能探究那創造萬有的天主，知道祂的心思，明認祂的旨意﹖斷乎不能! 弟兄們，不可觸怒上主我們的天主!
 友:8.15     如果祂在五天內，不肯前來施救，祂仍有權力在祂願意的時日保護我們，或在我們仇敵前將我們消滅。
 友:8.16     你們沒有要求保證的權利，而強迫上主，我們的天主，改變旨意，因為天主不同人一樣可以受威脅，或如人子一樣可以受支配。
 友:8.17     為此，我們只有等待祂的拯救，呼求祂來援助；如果祂願意，必會俯聽我們的呼聲。
 友:8.18     何況我們這一代從來沒有，且今日我們也沒有一支派，一家族，一村莊，一城市，像昔日一樣敬拜人造的神像。
 友:8.19     昔日為了這事，我們的祖先曾被刀斬、劫掠，在敵人前，慘遭滅亡。
 友:8.20     如今我們除了恭敬天主以外，不知道別的神，所以也盻望祂不會忽略我們，及我們同族的任何人。
 友:8.21     如果我們投降，全猶太也必投降，我們的聖所必遭搶掠。對他們受的污辱，上主必向我們追討血債；
 友:8.22     同胞被屠殺，國土被掠奪，祖業遭廢棄，都要歸咎於將散居在異民中為奴的我們，我們就成為那主宰我們者的譏笑淩辱的對象了。
 友:8.23     因為我們投降，並不會轉禍為福，上主我們的天主，必因此使我們蒙受恥辱。
 友:8.24     弟兄們! 如今我們應為同胞做好榜樣，因為他們的性命繫於我們，聖所、聖殿和聖壇，也賴我們來維護；
 友:8.25     為了這一切，我們要感謝上主，因為祂考驗我們，像考驗我們的祖先一樣。
 友:8.26     請你們回憶祂對亞巴郎所作的，又怎樣考驗了依撒格：看看雅各伯在敘利亞的美索不達米亞替他舅父放羊時，有了什麼遭遇。
 友:8.27     原來祂鍛鍊他們，乃是為考驗他們的心；上主也這樣鞭責我們，並不是為懲罰，乃的為警戒與祂親近的人」。
 友:8.28     敖齊雅對她說：「妳說的這一切，都是出於好心，誰也不會反對妳的話。
 友:8.29     妳的智慧，並不是今天才顯露出來，是自妳幼年，眾百姓就已賞識妳的見解，知道妳的心怎樣良善。
 友:8.30     無奈百姓渴得要命，逼迫我們，要按我們對他們所說的去行，並且還威脅我們，發了我們不可違犯的誓。
 友:8.31     如今請妳為我們祈禱，因為妳是虔誠的婦女，上主必降甘霖，注滿我們的池沼，使我們不再渴得暈」。
 友:8.32     友弟德對他們說：「請聽我說：我要作一件在我們民族的子孫中萬世流芳的事。
 友:8.33     今夜你們應站在城門口，我要同我的使女出城，在你們定要把城池交給敵人的日期內，上主會藉著我的手，眷顧以色列。
 友:8.34     你們不要偵察我的行動，因為在我畏作的事情未完成以前，我不告訴你們」。
 友:8.35     敖齊雅與首長對她說：「妳平安去吧! 願上主天主引導妳報復我們的敵人! 」
 友:8.36     然後他們離開帳幕，回到自己的地方去了。
  
 友:9.1      友弟德於是俯伏在地，將灰撒頭上，露出所穿的苦衣；其時耶路撒冷的天主聖殿內，正奉獻晚香祭。友弟德就大聲呼求上主說：
 友:9.2      「上主，我祖先西默盎的天主! 你曾將刀交在他手裏，去報復外方人，因為他們解開了一個處女的腰帶，加以玷污；袒露了她的股部，加以羞辱；破壞了她的貞操，加以作賤；雖然你曾說：不要這樣作，他們卻作了。
 友:9.3      因此，你讓他們的首領遭受殺戳，使那因欺騙受染污的床榻，反而受騙，染滿了血污；僕役與首領，君王與王位，你一律加以打擊。
 友:9.4      你又使他們的妻室，遭人搶去，女兒被人俘擄，使你所愛的人民，平分那些人的藏贓物；你的人民為了你的嫉憤而嫉憤，憎恨自己的血液所受的玷污，而哀求了你的援助。天主，我的天主! 求你也俯聽我這個寡婦!
 友:9.5      你作了這些過去，將來以及現在的事；是你計劃了現在和將來的事；那現在發生的事，也正是你所計劃的。
 友:9.6      你所決定的事好像前來說：看，我們在這裏。因為你的一切行徑，早已準備；你的判決，已預先知道。
 友:9.7      亞述人擁有雄厚的軍隊，自負有駿馬，有鐵騎，矜誇步兵的武力，自恃堅甲利兵，憑著弓箭和投石器，卻不知道你乃是消弭戰爭的上主。
 友:9.8      上主乃是你的名號! 願你以你的德能，擊毀他們的劫勢力，用震怒屈服他們的強權，因為他們已決意要褻瀆你的聖所，要污辱你尊所居的帳幕，要用斧砍去你祭壇的四角。
 友:9.9      你看他們的驕傲，願你的震怒，降在他們的頭上，賜我這寡婦的手有能力，去完成我所圖謀的事!
 友:9.10     願你用我口舌的巧言花語，去打擊他們的奴僕和主人，主帥與官員! 願你用一個女人的手，去消滅他們的威風!
 友:9.11     你的力量，不在乎人多；你的威能，並不靠強力；但你卻是謙卑者的天主，弱小者的扶助，無力者的保護，無靠者的依賴，失望者的救主。
 友:9.12     你的確是我祖先的天主，以色列祖業的天主，天地的主宰，水的創造者，萬有的君王，你俯聽我的祈求吧!
 友:9.13     願你使我巧妙的言辭，去傷害，去殺死那些想出陰謀，破壞你的聖約、聖殿、熙雍山和你人民所佔居的家鄉的人!
 友:9.14     願你使你的眾民族眾支派都知道：你是天主，萬能全權的天主；除你以外，以色列族沒有別的保護者」。
  
 友:10.1     友弟德呼籲以色列的天主，祝告了這一切話以後，
 友:10.2     就由地上起來，叫來自己的使女，一同下到她安息日及慶節日所常住的屋裏，
 友:10.3     除去所穿的苦衣，脫下寡婦的衣服，洗了澡，塗上貴重的香水，梳好頭髮，蒙上手帕，穿上丈夫默納舍在世時自己喜愛穿錦衣，
 友:10.4     腳穿涼鞋，掛上項鍊、帶上手鐲、指環、耳環、以及各種裝飾品；打扮得花枝招展，令男人見了，無不注目而視。
 友:10.5     然後拿一皮囊酒，一瓶油，交給自己的使女；又在一布袋內裝滿了烘焙的大麥，無花果糕，淨麵包；將一切物品包在一起，放在使女肩上背著。
 友:10.6     於是二人出發，走向拜突里雅城門，正遇見敖齊雅及中長老加布黎和加爾米在等候。
 友:10.7     他們見她容貌大變，服裝特異，讚歎她的美麗，對她說：
 友:10.8     「願我們祖先的天主，使妳蒙恩，使以色列子民歡樂，使耶路撒冷顯揚! 願祂完成妳的計劃!」
 友:10.9     友弟德遂朝拜了天主，以後向他們說：「請你們下令給我開城門，我要出去，完成你們對我說的事」。長老遂吩咐少年人，照她說的給她開門。
 友:10.10    他們開了城門，友弟德和她的使女就出去了；城裏的人目送她下山；等她轉過了山谷，就看不見她了。
 友:10.11    她二人在山谷內一直前行，迎面來了一個亞述的哨兵，
 友:10.12    就捉住她，盤問說：「妳是哪國人，從哪裏來，往哪裏去﹖」她答說：「我是希伯來人。我從他們那裏偷跑出來，因為快要落在你們口裏。
 友:10.13    我來見你們軍隊的統帥敖羅斐乃，我帶真實情報，要指給他一條路，從這條路進攻，不損一兵一卒，就能佔領山地」。
 友:10.14    那些人聽她說話時，都目不轉睛的看著她，見了這樣美麗的女人，都驚訝稱奇，對她說：
 友:10.15    「妳救了命，因妳迅速下來，投奔我們的的主帥；如今妳到他帳幕裏去，我們必有人送妳，將妳交在他手裏。
 友:10.16    若妳站在他面前時，妳心裏不要害怕，只要妳按妳的話報告，他必定會優待妳」。
 友:10.17    人就從隊裏，挑選了一百人，護送她和她的使女，到敖羅斐乃的帳幕前。
 友:10.18    一時全營齊集，因為她前來的消息已傳遍了各帳幕；人出來將她圍住。那時她正站在敖羅斐乃的帳幕外，等著往上傳稟她的事。
 友:10.19    人對她的花容容玉貌，無不讚歎，也因她而讚歎以色列子民，彼此相告說：「這民族既有這樣的美人，誰還能輕視﹖他們中既便讓一個男人生存，也不是好事；任他們自由，他們必能智取全世界」。
 友:10.20    敖羅斐乃的護衛和眾僕出來，領她進入營幕。
 友:10.21    那時敖羅斐乃正在金玉珠寶裝飾的紫帳內的床上休息。
 友:10.22    人們將她的事向他稟告之後，他遂由銀燈引道，來到帳幕門口。
 友:10.23    友弟德一來到他和他的侍從面前，他們無不讚賞她的花容玉貌。友弟德遂俯伏在地，向他致敬，侍役們即將她扶起。
  
 友:11.1     敖羅斐乃向她說：「女人，放心，不要害怕，因為凡願意服侍全世界之王拿步高的，我沒有加害過。
 友:11.2     現在，妳那住在山地人民，若沒有人輕視我，我也不會舉起我的矛攻擊他們，這是他們自作自受。
 友:11.3     現在，妳告訴我，為什麼妳逃開他們，來到這裏﹖妳來若是為救妳自己，妳可放心! 今夜以及將來，妳必獲得生存!
 友:11.4     因為沒有人加害妳，反要優待妳，如同優待我主拿步高王的臣僕一樣」。
 友:11.5     友弟德回答說：「願你聽取你奴婢的話，恩准你婢女在你面前說話。我今夜決不向我主說一句謊話。
 友:11.6     你若順從了你婢女的話，天主必藉著你順利完成你的事業；我主的計劃，必不致於失敗。
 友:11.7     全世界之王拿步高萬歲! 他的德能萬歲! 他打發你來，是為謀眾生的福利，你不但叫人都服侍他，也叫野獸、家畜和空中的飛鳥，都藉著你的威權，因服侍拿步高及他的全家而生存。
 友:11.8     我們早聽說你的智慧和雄才大略，全世界都知道你的舉世無雙，能幹多謀，戰略如神的人。
 友:11.9     阿希約爾在你會議席上說的話，我們已聽到了，因為拜突里雅人救了他，他就將自己在你面前說的話，都告訴了我們。
 友:11.10    所以主帥，不要忽視他的話，反應把那些話記在心裏，因為都是真情實話：除非我們的民族犯罪得罪了自己的天主，是不會受罰的，刀劍也無能為力。
 友:11.11    但幾時行了越規的事，就激起自己天主彶怒；現在可巧，他們又犯了罪，喪亡必要臨頭，所以我主不致謀事不成，出師不利。
 友:11.12    自從自他們食糧，飲水不敷以來，就決意要宰殺牲畜。凡天主用法律禁止吃的一切，他們也決定要吃，
 友:11.13    連那些祝聖過的，為給耶路撒冷於我們天主面前供職的司祭所保留下的初熟麥子，和十分之一的酒油，也決意要動用。這些東西，平民連手觸摸，也是不許的。
 友:11.14    他們已打發使者到耶路撒冷去，──因為的居民也作了同樣的事──要他們向長老院要求豁免。
 友:11.15    他們一得到答覆，就必實行：就在同一天內，他們必落在你們手裏，而淪於滅亡。
 友:11.16    因此，你的婢女，我一知道這一切，就暗暗離開他們。天主打發我來，好與你們完成這件全世界一聽到，無驚奇的事。
 友:11.17    你的婢女原是敬畏天主的人，日夜都要服侍天上的大主。我主! 如今我願住在你這裏，但是夜間，你的婢女卻要出去，到山谷中去祈求天主。幾時他們做出了犯罪的事，祂必會告訴我；
 友:11.18    然後我來通知你，你便率領大軍出發，他們沒有一個敢抵抗你的。
 友:11.19    那時，我要領你取道猶太，直取耶路撒冷，在那裏建立你的寶座；你率領他們如無牧之羊，連也不敢向你口吠叫。這些事，我已先知，早已說給我，通知我了。啟此受命前來，轉告給你」。
 友:11.20    她的話，使敖羅斐乃和他的眾僕從很是喜悅，都驚訝她的智慧說：
 友:11.21    「大地兩極，沒有一個容貌如此美麗，出言如此明智的女人! 」
 友:11.22    敖羅斐乃對她說：「天主在這個民族以先打發妳來，使勝利屬於我軍，使滅亡歸於輕視我主的人，實在很好!
 友:11.23    現在，既然妳的容貌如此美麗，說話又如此中肯，如果妳按照妳所說的去行，那麼妳的天主將是我的天主，妳將住在拿步高王的宮殿裏，成為全世界上出名的人物」。
  
 友:12.1     敖羅斐乃令人領她到佈滿銀具的餐廳內，吩咐人給她吃他自己的食物，給她喝他自己的酒。
 友:12.2     但友弟德回答說：「我不願吃這些東西，怕有什麼防礙；我帶來的東西，已足夠我吃用的了」。
 友:12.3     敖羅斐乃問她說：「假使妳帶來的東西用完了，從哪裏能拿同樣的理由來給妳呢﹖我們這裏沒有妳同族的人」。
 友:12.4     友弟德答應他說：「我主萬歲! 直到上主藉著我的手，完成祂所願意的事以前，我帶來的東西，你的婢女是不會用盡的」。
 友:12.5     以後，敖羅斐乃的僕從領她進入一座帳幕。她睡到半夜，晨更前便起來了，
 友:12.6     打發人到敖羅斐乃說：「請我主下令，准你的婢女出外祈禱」。
 友:12.7     敖羅斐乃就吩咐侍衛，不要阻止她。她在營中住了三天，夜夜都出去，往拜突里雅山谷中，哨兵佈防的水泉旁沐浴；
 友:12.8     然後上來，哀求上主以色列的天主，給她一條拯救自己同族子民的正路。
 友:12.9     她取潔回去後，留在帳幕裏，直到晚上吃飯的時候。
 友:12.10    到了第四天，敖羅斐乃設宴，只邀請自己的侍衛，軍官中一個也沒有邀請。
 友:12.11    他對自己的管巴哥阿宦官說：「你去勸說住在你旁邊的那個希伯來女到我們這樣來，同我們一起宴飲。
 友:12.12    如果有這樣一個美人在跟前，而不與她交結，這真是掃興的事! 如果我們不引她來，人反會恥笑我們」。
 友:12.13    巴哥阿離開敖羅斐乃去見她說：「妳這美麗的女郎! 不要躊躇到我主上那裏去，當面受他的尊敬，與我們飲酒取樂。今日妳要變成拿步高宮亞述的公主」。
 友:12.14    友弟德回答他說：「我是誰，膽敢違背我主上的意思﹖凡他喜歡的事，我必趕快去做。這是我一生至死最大的喜悅」。
 友:12.15    遂立即前來，穿上錦衣，佩帶了婦女所佩帶的裝飾品；叫她的婢女先去，把巴哥阿每日坐著吃飯的皮墊拿去，給友弟德鋪在敖羅斐乃對面的地上。
 友:12.16    友弟德進來，就了位，敖羅斐乃一看她，即心不守舍，神魂顛倒，貪其美色；原來從見了她那一天起，就想乘機勾引她。
 友:12.17    此時對她說：「喝吧，大家一同歡樂! 」
 友:12.18    友弟德說：「是，我主! 我願喝，因為我有生以來，我的生活沒有像今天再有價值的了! 」
 友:12.19    就在他面前，將自己婢女預備好的，拿來吃喝。
 友:12.20    敖羅斐乃見她如，此喜極狂歡，遂開懷暢飲；有生以來，沒有一天，喝過這麼多的酒。
  
 友:13.1     夜已深了，他的僕役都迅速離去，巴哥阿從外面把帳幕關好，又示意叫從離開主人面前；由於宴飲時間過長，人都感到疲乏，就各自上床睡了。
 友:13.2     此時，在帳幕只有友弟德，和泥醉橫臥在床上的敖羅斐乃。
 友:13.3     友弟德遂吩咐自己的婢女，要像她平日一樣，在寢室外等侯她出來，因為她說她要出去祈禱；且也對巴哥阿這樣說了。
 友:13.4     此時，所有的人都走了，不論大小，沒有一個留在寢室內友弟德就站在他的床邊，心裏說：「上主，全能的天主! 求你在此時，眷顧我手要行的工作，為顯揚耶路撒冷!
 友:13.5     因為如今正是救助你家業的時候，請玉成我的計劃，消滅那起來攻擊我們的敵人! 」
 友:13.6     她走到靠敖羅斐乃頭部的床柱前，由上面取下了他的短劍，
 友:13.7     再走近床前，抓住他的頭髮說：「上主，以色列的天主，求你今天賜我力量! 」
 友:13.8     遂用盡力氣，在他頸上砍了兩下，割下他的頭顱，
 友:13.9     把他的屍首從床上滾下，由柱上卸下帳幔，即刻走出，將敖羅斐乃的頭，交給自己的使女；
 友:13.10    使女把頭放進食袋裏。然後二人一起照習慣出去祈禱去了。二人經過兵營，繞過山谷，爬巴拜突里雅山，來到了自己的城門下。
 友:13.11    友弟德從遠處向守門的人說：「開門，開門啊! 天主，我們的天主，與我們同在，祂今日所作的，再次證明祂在以色列中的能力，和處置敵人的威力」。
 友:13.12    城裏的人，一聽見她的聲音，就趕快下來，到城門口，召集了城中的長老。
 友:13.13    於是老幼大小一起跑過來，由於她回來實在出於他們意科之外。遂開門迎新她們，點起明亮的火把，將二人圍起來。
 友:13.14    友弟德大聲對他們說：「讚美天主! 讚美，讚美天主! 祂不但沒有從以色列收回祂的仁慈，今夜反藉著我的手，粉碎了我們的敵人」。
 友:13.15    遂從袋裏取出一個人頭來，指著對他們說：「看，這就是亞述軍隊的總司令敖羅斐乃的頭。看! 這就是他醉後睡的帳幔! 上主藉著一個婦人的手，擊殺了他。
 友:13.16    上主永在! 祂在我行的路上保護了我，因為我的容貌迷惑了他，叫他趨於喪亡；他未曾與我犯罪，玷污羞辱我」。
 友:13.17    民眾聽了，不勝驚奇，都都俯伏在地，朝拜天主，同聲說道：「今日使你民族的敵人化為烏有的，我們的天主啊! 你是應受讚美的! 」
 友:13.18    敖齊雅對她說：「我女! 全世界婦女中，妳分外應受至高者的祝福! 創造天地的上主，領妳割取我們的的敵人統帥頭顱的天主，應受讚美!
 友:13.19    在永遠記得天主能力的人心中，不會忘記妳的信心。
 友:13.20    妳不忍見我們民族所受的屈辱，竟不顧惜妳的性命，出去挽救我們的危亡，在我們的天主面前，履行正道；希望天主永遠使妳獲得光榮，賜與妳幸福! 」民眾答說：「但願如此! 但願如此! 」
  
 友:14.1     友弟德對他們說：「兄弟們，請聽我說：把這人頭掛在城堵上。
 友:14.2     天亮，太陽上昇照耀大地時，你們各拿武器，所有的壯丁，都應出城；並且立一個首領率領他們，仿佛要下到平原，攻擊亞述人的前哨，但是不必下去。
 友:14.3     亞述人一見，必拿起武器，走到營裏，叫醒亞述軍隊的官長，官長必跑進敖羅斐乃帳幕；若找不到他，必驚慌失措，從你們面前逃走。
 友:14.4     此時，你們以及住在以色列全境內的子民，應去追趕他們，在他們潰退的路上，沿途截擊。
 友:14.5     不過在作這事以前，請你們給我將阿孟人阿希約爾叫來，叫他看看，並辨認那輕視以色列家，打發他到我們這裏來等死的人! 」
 友:14.6     人就由敖齊雅家裏將阿希約爾叫來。他一來到，看見會集的人中，有人手中提著敖羅斐乃的頭，就立即暈在地。
 友:14.7     人將他扶起，他跪在友弟德腳前，叩拜她說：「在所有猶太人帳幕裏，在所有聽到你的名字而恐懼的萬民中，你是應受讚美的!
 友:14.8     如今請告訴我，你在這幾天內做了什麼! 」友弟德就當著民眾，把她從出城那天，直到現今與他們談話時為止的所作所為，都一一告訴了他。
 友:14.9     她一說完話，民眾就大聲呼號，全城歡聲雷動。
 友:14.10    阿希約爾看見以色列天主所作的這一切，就堅信了天主，受了割損，歸依以色列家直到今日。
 友:14.11    天一發亮，人們就把敖羅斐乃的頭掛在城堵上，各人拿著武器，一隊一隊地，走向山坡的路。
 友:14.12    亞述子民一看見，就打發人通知自己的頭目；頭目去見官長、千夫長和眾將領。
 友:14.13    他們來到敖羅斐乃帳幕前，對總管說：「請叫醒我們的主上，因為那些奴才竟敢下來向向我們挑戰，他們要下來送死」。
 友:14.14    巴哥阿就進去，敲了帳幕的門簾，以為他還與友弟德同睡未起。
 友:14.15    但沒有聽到什麼聲音，就揭開門簾，走進寢室，發現敖羅斐乃橫臥在腳凳上死了，頭已被砍去，
 友:14.16    便大聲呼喊、哭泣、伸吟、尖叫，撕裂了衣服，
 友:14.17    立即跑進友弟德住的帳幕裏，也沒有找著她，就跑到人們前喊說：
 友:14.18    「這些奴才造反了! 一個希伯來女人給拿步高王朝帶來了恥辱。看，敖羅斐乃死在地上，頭不見了! 」
 友:14.19    亞述軍隊的眾軍官一聽這話，都撕裂了衣服，心慌意亂；此時營中哭聲喊聲混成一片。
  
 友:15.1     營裏的人一聽話發生的事，都大驚失色，
 友:15.2     常驚慌害怕，沒有兩個人敢立在一起，一致蜂湧而出，沿平原和山路，四散奔逃。
 友:15.3     住紮在拜巴突里雅周圍山地一帶的，都轉身逃走。那時以色列所有的壯丁，全蜂湧而出，追趕敵人。
 友:15.4     敖齊雅也打發人到拜突瑪斯坦、貝拜、苛巴、科拉，以及以色列各地，報告所發生的事，要大家都出來襲擊敵軍，加以殲滅。
 友:15.5     以色列子民一聽，萬眾一心，齊來追擊敵軍，一直殺到苛巴。耶路撒冷和各山地一帶的居民，一得知敵人營中所發生的事，也出來追擊；住在基肋阿得及加里肋亞的，側面痛擊，重創敵軍，追殺他們且越過了大馬士革及其屬境。
 友:15.6     在巴突里雅餘下的居民，衝入亞述營盤，搶劫了大批物資。
 友:15.7     以色列子民在追殺人回來，拾取了很多丟棄的物資；散處在山地及平原間的村落和壯戶，也奪取獲了大批的勝利品，因為敵營的物資很多。
 友:15.8     約雅金大司祭，以及耶路撒冷元老院的長老，都來觀賞上主對以色列行的奇恩，及看望友弟德，向她致賀。
 友:15.9     眾人一來到她那裏，就一致稱讚她說：「妳是耶路撒冷的榮耀，妳是以色列的大喜樂，妳是我們民族的大光榮，
 友:15.10    妳親手完成了這一切，妳為以色列做了奇蹟異事，天主也因妳而喜悅。願妳永遠為全能的上主所祝福! 」全體民眾回答說：「但願如此! 」
 友:15.11    眾百姓三十天之久，搶掠敵營。他們把敖羅斐乃的帳幕，及他所有的銀器、床塌、杯盤和一切家具，都給了友弟德。她接受了，將這一切放在騾背上，又奪了車，堆在車上。
 友:15.12    以色列的婦女，全跑來看她，結隊歌舞，讚美她；友弟德自己手中拿著樹枝，也分給與她在一起的婦女。
 友:15.13    她與那些伴隨好的婦女，用橄欖枝編成花圈，親自走在儀仗前面，率領眾婦女歌舞；以色列的男子都武裝起來，頭戴花冠，尾隨在後，引吭高歌。
 友:15.14    友弟德在全以色列中領唱這感恩歌，全體民眾也高聲和唱這讚美歌。
  
 友:16.1     友弟德說：「請你們向我的天主擊鼓奏樂，向我的上主敲鈸歌唱，向祂吟詠詩歌，讚揚歡呼祂的聖名!
 友:16.2     上主原是粉碎戰爭的天主，在民間支搭祂的幕府，救我脫離仇人的毒手。
 友:16.3     亞述由北嶽出發，率領著千軍萬馬；大軍阻塞了溪流，鐵騎掩蔽了山丘。
 友:16.4     本想焚毀我村落，刀斬我青年，摔死我乳兒，俘擄我幼童，掠奪我婦女；
 友:16.5     但全能上主，只憑一弱婦之手，把他們消除!
 友:16.6     亞述的名將，非壯丁所能擊斃，非巨人之後所能擊倒，非大力士所能征服，卻為默辣黎之後友弟德，以她花容玉貌，使其心醉。
 友:16.7     她脫去寡婦的衣服，去拯救受苦的以色列。香膏敷面，
 友:16.8     帶束雲髻，身披錦衣，為將他勾引。
 友:16.9     涼鞋奪目，玉容勾魂，短劍斷其頭。
 友:16.10    她的膽量，波斯人見而戰慄；她的奮勇，瑪待人因而恐懼。
 友:16.11    卑微者一呼喊，他們便膽破；我弱小者一吶喊，他們便恐慌。高聲一嚷，他們便逃亡! 少婦之子，將他們刺死，擊殺他們像逃陣的小卒；我上主一佈陣，他們即告滅亡。
 友:16.12    少婦之子，將他們刺死，擊殺他們像逃陣的小卒；我上主一佈陣，他們即告滅亡。
 友:16.13    我要向我天主詠唱新歌：上主，你偉大而榮耀，德能神妙，戰無不勝!
 友:16.14    願你所造丁，都服侍你，因你一命，萬物造成，你一噓氣，化工成形；你一發命，無人敢違。
 友:16.15    山嶽振撼，山基隨水而動，在你面前，磐石似蠟消溶；但敬畏你的，你必仁慈憐憫。
 友:16.16    祭祀原屬小道，不過香煙一縷；種種燔祭油脂，於你實不足道；但敬畏上主的人，偉大永存。
 友:16.17    禍哉，那攻擊我族的異民! 的上主在審判之日，必要報復，他們的肉體必受火燒蟲蝕；哀痛哭泣，永不止息!」
 友:16.18    百姓進入耶路撒冷，朝拜了天主；取潔之後，奉獻了全燔祭、自願祭和供物。
 友:16.19    友弟德將人民送給她的敖羅斐乃的各種物品，和拿自他寢室內的帳帷，都獻給了天主，作為還願的獻禮。
 友:16.20    三月之久，百姓於耶路撒冷，在聖所前舉行慶祝；友弟德也與他們同樂。
 友:16.21    過了這個日期，各回本家，友弟德也回了拜突里雅，住在家裏，一生到處受尊榮。
 友:16.22    想念她的人，雖然很多，但她自從丈夫默納舍去世，歸於親族之後，她一生歲月，再沒有認識男人。
 友:16.23    她活了很大的年紀，在她丈夫的家裏，活到一百零五歲，解放了自己的奴婢，然後死在拜突里雅，埋葬在丈夫默納舍的墳墓裏。
 友:16.24    以色列家，舉喪七天哀悼她。她去世以前把家產分給了自己丈夫默納舍的至親家人。
 友:16.25    友弟德在世之時，以及在她去世之後，很長久的時期，沒有人敢擾亂以色列子民。   [友弟德傳完篇]

 jdt:1.      Judith    [友弟德傳]  16 chapters  [英文版]
   
 jdt:1.1     It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyriansin the great city of Nineveh. At that time Arphaxad ruled over the Medes in Ecbatana.
 jdt:1.2     Around this city he built a wall of blocks of stone, each three cubits inheight and six in length. He made the wall seventy cubits high and fifty thick.
 jdt:1.3     At the gates he raised towers of a hundred cubits, with a thickness of sixty cubits at the base.
 jdt:1.4     The gateway he built to a height of seventy cubits, with an opening forty cubits wide for the passage of his chariot forces and the marshaling of his infantry.
 jdt:1.5     Then King Nebuchadnezzar waged war against King Arphaxad in the vast plain, in the district of Ragae.
 jdt:1.6     To him there rallied all the inhabitants of the mountain region, all who dwelt along the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, and King Arioch of the Elamites, in the plain. Thus many nations came together to resist the people of Cheleoud.
 jdt:1.7     Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, sent messengers to all the inhabitants of Persia, and to all those who dwelt in the West: to the inhabitants of Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, to all who dwelt along the seacoast,
 jdt:1.8     to the peoples of Carmel, Gilead, Upper Galilee, and the vast plain of Esdraelon,
 jdt:1.9     to all those in Samaria and its cities, and west of the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, Bethany, Chelous, Kadesh, and the River of Egypt; to Tahpanhes, Raamses, all the land of Goshen,
 jdt:1.10    Tanis, Memphis and beyond, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the borders of Ethiopia.
 jdt:1.11    But the inhabitants of all that land disregarded the summons of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and would not go with him to the war. They were not afraid of him but regarded him as a lone individual opposed to them, and turned away his envoys empty-handed, in disgrace.
 jdt:1.12    Then Nebuchadnezzar fell into a violent rage against all that land, and swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would avenge himself on all the territories of Cilicia and Damascus and Syria, and also destroy with his sword all the inhabitants of Moab, Ammon, the whole of Judea, and those living anywhere in Egypt as far as the borders of the two seas.
 jdt:1.13    In the seventeenth year he proceeded with his army against King Arphaxad, and was victorious in his campaign. He routed the whole force of Arphaxad, his entire cavalry and all his chariots,
 jdt:1.14    and took possession of his cities. He pressed on to Ecbatana and took its towers, sacked its marketplaces, and turned its glory into shame.
 jdt:1.15    Arphaxad himself he overtook in the mountains of Ragae, ran him through with spears, and utterly destroyed him.
 jdt:1.16    Then he returned home with all his numerous, motley horde of warriors; and there he and his army relaxed and feasted for a hundred and twenty days.
   
 jdt:2.1     In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was a discussion in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, about taking revenge on the whole world, as he had threatened.
 jdt:2.2     He summoned all his ministers and nobles, laid before them his secret plan, and urged the total destruction of those countries.
 jdt:2.3     They decided to do away with all those who had refused to comply with the order he had issued.
 jdt:2.4     When he had completed his plan, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, summoned Holofernes, general in chief of his forces, second to himself in command, and said to him:
 jdt:2.5     "Thus says the great king, the lord of all the earth: Go forth from my presence, take with you men of proven valor, a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry,
 jdt:2.6     and proceed against all the land of the West, because they did not comply with the order I issued.
 jdt:2.7     Tell them to have earth and water ready, for I will come against them in my wrath; I will cover all the land with the feet of my soldiers, to whom I will deliver them as spoils.
 jdt:2.8     Their slain shall fill their ravines and wadies, the swelling torrent shall be choked with their dead;
 jdt:2.9     and I will deport them as exiles to the very ends of the earth.
 jdt:2.10    "You go before me and take possession of all their territories for me. If they surrender to you, guard them for me till the day of their punishment.
 jdt:2.11    As for those who resist, show them no quarter, but deliver them up to slaughter and plunder in each country you occupy.
 jdt:2.12    For as I live, and by the strength of my kingdom, what I have spoken I will accomplish by my power.
 jdt:2.13    Do not disobey a single one of the orders of your lord; fulfill them exactly as I have commanded you, and do it without delay."
 jdt:2.14    So Holofernes left the presence of his lord, and summoned all the princes, and the generals and officers of the Assyrian army.
 jdt:2.15    He mustered a hundred and twenty thousand picked troops, as his lord had commanded, and twelve thousand mounted archers,
 jdt:2.16    and grouped them into a complete combat force.
 jdt:2.17    He took along a very large number of camels, asses, and mules for their baggage; innumerable sheep, cattle, and goats for their food supply;
 jdt:2.18    abundant provisions for each man, and much gold and silver from the royal palace.
 jdt:2.19    Then he and his whole army proceeded on their expedition in advance of King Nebuchadnezzar, to cover all the western region with their chariots and cavalry and regular infantry.
 jdt:2.20    A huge, irregular force, too many to count, like locusts or the dust of the earth, went along with them.
 jdt:2.21    After a three-day march from Nineveh, they reached the plain of Bectileth, and from Bectileth they next encamped near the mountains to the north of Upper Cilicia.
 jdt:2.22    From there Holofernes took his whole force, the infantry, cavalry, and chariots, and marched into the mountain region.
 jdt:2.23    He devastated Put and Lud, and plundered all the Rassisites and the Ishmaelites on the border of the desert toward the south of Chaldea.
 jdt:2.24    Then, following the Euphrates, he went through Mesopotamia, and battered down every fortified city along the Wadi Abron, until he reached the sea.
 jdt:2.25    He seized the territory of Cilicia, and cut down everyone who resisted him. Then he proceeded to the southern borders of Japheth, toward Arabia.
 jdt:2.26    He surrounded all the Midianites, burned their tents, and plundered their sheepfolds.
 jdt:2.27    Descending to the plain of Damascus at the time of the wheat harvest, he set fire to all their fields, destroyed their flocks and herds, despoiled their cities, devastated their plains, and put all their youths to the sword.
 jdt:2.28    The fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the coastland, upon those in Sidon and Tyre, and those who dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and the inhabitants of Jamnia. Those in Azotus and Ascalon also feared him greatly.
   
 jdt:3.1     They therefore sent messengers to him to sue for peace in these words:
 jdt:3.2     "We, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the great king, lie prostrate before you; do with us as you will.
 jdt:3.3     Our dwellings and all our wheat fields, our flocks and herds, and all our encampments are at your disposal; make use of them as you please.
 jdt:3.4     Our cities and their inhabitants are also at your service; come and deal with them as you see fit."
 jdt:3.5     After the spokesmen had reached Holofernes and given him this message,
 jdt:3.6     he went down with his army to the seacoast, and stationed garrisons in the fortified cities; from them he impressed picked troops as auxiliaries.
 jdt:3.7     The people of these cities and all the inhabitants of the countryside received him with garlands and dancing to the sound of timbrels.
 jdt:3.8     Nevertheless, he devastated their whole territory and cut down their sacred groves, for he had been commissioned to destroy all the gods of the earth, so that every nation might worship Nebuchadnezzar alone, and every people and tribe invoke him as a god.
 jdt:3.9     At length Holofernes reached Esdraelon in the neighborhood of Dothan, the approach to the main ridge of the Judean mountains;
 jdt:3.10    he set up his camp between Geba and Scythopolis, and stayed there a whole month to refurbish all the equipment of his army.
   
 jdt:4.1     When the Israelites who dwelt in Judea heard of all that Holofernes, commander-in-chief of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had despoiled all their temples and destroyed them,
 jdt:4.2     they were in extreme dread of him, and greatly alarmed for Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord, their God.
 jdt:4.3     Now, they had lately returned from exile, and only recently had all the people of Judea been gathered together, and the vessels, the altar, and the temple been purified from profanation.
 jdt:4.4     So they sent word to the whole region of Samaria, to Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, and Jericho, to Choba and Aesora, and to the valley of Salem.
 jdt:4.5     The people there posted guards on all the summits of the high mountains, fortified their villages, and since their fields had recently been harvested, stored up provisions in preparation for war.
 jdt:4.6     Joakim, who was high priest in Jerusalem in those days, wrote to the inhabitants of Bethulia (and Betomesthaim), which is on the way to Esdraelon, facing the plain near Dothan,
 jdt:4.7     and instructed them to keep firm hold of the mountain passes, since these offered access to Judea. It would be easy to ward off the attacking forces, as the defile was only wide enough for two abreast.
 jdt:4.8     The Israelites carried out the orders given them by Joakim, the high priest, and the senate of the whole people of Israel, which met in Jerusalem.
 jdt:4.9     All the men of Israel cried to God with great fervor and did penance--
 jdt:4.10    they, along with their wives, and children, and domestic animals. All their resident aliens, hired laborers, and slaves also girded themselves with sackcloth.
 jdt:4.11    And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord.
 jdt:4.12    The altar, too, they draped in sackcloth; and with one accord they cried out fervently to the God of Israel not to allow their children to be seized, their wives to be taken captive, the cities of their inheritance to be ruined, or the sanctuary to be profaned and mocked for the nations to gloat over.
 jdt:4.13    The Lord heard their cry and had regard for their distress. For the people observed a fast of many days' duration throughout Judea, and before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem.
 jdt:4.14    The high priest Joakim, and all the priests in attendance on the Lord who served his altar, were also girded with sackcloth as they offered the daily holocaust, the votive offerings, and the freewill offerings of the people.
 jdt:4.15    With ashes upon their turbans, they cried to the Lord with all their strength to look with favor on the whole house of Israel.
   
 jdt:5.1     It was reported to Holofernes, commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army, that the Israelites were ready for battle, and had blocked the mountain passes, fortified the summits of all the higher peaks, and placed roadblocks in the plains.
 jdt:5.2     In great anger he summoned all the rulers of the Moabites, the generals of the Ammonites, and all the satraps of the seacoast
 jdt:5.3     and said to them: "Now tell me, you Canaanites, what sort of people is this that dwells in the mountains? Which cities do they inhabit? How large is their army? In what does their power and strength consist? Who has set himself up as their king and the leader of their army?
 jdt:5.4     Why have they refused to come out to meet me along with all the other inhabitants of the West?"
 jdt:5.5     Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites said to him: "My lord, hear this account from your servant; I will tell you the truth about this people that lives near you (that inhabits this mountain region); no lie shall escape your servant's lips.
 jdt:5.6     "These people are descendants of the Chaldeans.
 jdt:5.7     They formerly dwelt in Mesopotamia, for they did not wish to follow the gods of their forefathers who were born in the land of the Chaldeans.
 jdt:5.8     Since they abandoned the way of their ancestors, and acknowledged with divine worship the God of heaven, their forefathers expelled them from the presence of their gods. So they fled to Mesopotamia and dwelt there a long time.
 jdt:5.9     Their God bade them leave their abode and proceed to the land of Canaan. Here they settled, and grew very rich in gold, silver, and a great abundance of livestock.
 jdt:5.10    Later, when famine had gripped the whole land of Canaan, they went down into Egypt. They stayed there as long as they found sustenance, and grew into such a great multitude that the number of their race could not be counted.
 jdt:5.11    The king of Egypt, however, rose up against them, shrewdly forced them to labor at brickmaking, oppressed and enslaved them.
 jdt:5.12    But they cried to their God, and he struck the land of Egypt with plagues for which there was no remedy. When the Egyptians expelled them,
 jdt:5.13    God dried up the Red Sea before them,
 jdt:5.14    and led them along the route to Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. First they drove out all the inhabitants of the desert;
 jdt:5.15    then they settled in the land of the Amorites, destroyed all the Heshbonites by main force, crossed the Jordan, and took possession of the whole mountain region.
 jdt:5.16    They expelled the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and all the Gergesites; and they lived in these mountains a long time.
 jdt:5.17    "As long as the Israelites did not sin in the sight of their God, they prospered, for their God, who hates wickedness, was with them.
 jdt:5.18    But when they deviated from the way he prescribed for them, they were ground down steadily, more and more, by frequent wars, and finally taken as captives into foreign lands. The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their cities were occupied by their enemies.
 jdt:5.19    But now that they have returned to their God, they have come back from the Dispersion wherein they were scattered, and have repossessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and have settled again in the mountain region which was unoccupied.
 jdt:5.20    "So now, my lord and master, if these people are at fault, and are sinning against their God, and if we verify this offense of theirs, then we shall be able to go up and conquer them.
 jdt:5.21    But if they are not a guilty nation, then your lordship should keep his distance; otherwise their Lord and God will shield them, and we shall become the laughing stock of the whole world."
 jdt:5.22    Now when Achior had concluded his recommendation, all the people standing round about the tent murmured; and the officers of Holofernes and all the inhabitants of the seacoast and of Moab alike said he should be cut to pieces.
 jdt:5.23    "We are not afraid of the Israelites," they said, "for they are a powerless people, incapable of a strong defense.
 jdt:5.24    Let us therefore attack them; your great army, Lord Holofernes, will swallow them up."
   
 jdt:6.1     When the noise of the crowd surrounding the council had subsided, Holofernes, commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army, said to Achior, in the presence of the whole throng of coastland peoples, of the Moabites, and of the Ammonite mercenaries:
 jdt:6.2     "Who are you, Achior, to prophesy among us as you have done today, and to tell us not to fight against the Israelites because their God protects them? What god is there beside Nebuchadnezzar? He will send his force and destroy them from the face of the earth. Their God will not save them;
 jdt:6.3     but we, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, will strike them down as one man, for they will be unable to withstand the force of our cavalry.
 jdt:6.4     We will overwhelm them with it, and the mountains shall be drunk with their blood, and their plains filled with their corpses. Not a trace of them shall survive our attack: they shall utterly perish, says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of all the earth; for he has spoken, and his words shall not remain unfulfilled.
 jdt:6.5     As for you, Achior, you Ammonite mercenary, for saying these things in a moment of perversity you shall not see my face after today, until I have taken revenge on this race of people from Egypt.
 jdt:6.6     Then at my return, the sword of my army or the spear of my servants will pierce your sides, and you shall fall among their slain.
 jdt:6.7     My servants will now conduct you to the mountain region, and leave you at one of the towns along the ascent.
 jdt:6.8     You shall not die till you are destroyed together with them.
 jdt:6.9     If you still cherish the hope that they will not be taken, then there is no need for you to be downcast. I have spoken, and my words shall not prove false in any respect."
 jdt:6.10    Then Holofernes ordered the servants who were standing by in his tent to seize Achior, conduct him to Bethulia, and hand him over to the Israelites.
 jdt:6.11    So the servants took him in custody and brought him out of the camp into the plain. From there they led him into the mountain region till they reached the springs below Bethulia.
 jdt:6.12    When the men of the city saw them, they seized their weapons and ran out of the city to the crest of the ridge; and all the slingers blocked the ascent of Holofernes' servants by hurling stones upon them.
 jdt:6.13    So they took cover below the mountain, where they bound Achior and left him lying at the foot of the mountain; then they returned to their lord.
 jdt:6.14    The Israelites came down to him from their city, loosed him, and brought him into Bethulia. They haled him before the rulers of the city,
 jdt:6.15    who in those days were Uzziah, son of Micah of the tribe of Simeon, Chabris, son of Gothoniel, and Charmis, son of Melchiel.
 jdt:6.16    They then convened all the elders of the city; and all their young men, as well as the women, gathered in haste at the place of assembly. They placed Achior in the center of the throng, and Uzziah questioned him about what had happened.
 jdt:6.17    He replied by giving them an account of what was said in the council of Holofernes, and of all his own words among the Assyrian officers, and of all the boasting threats of Holofernes against the house of Israel.
 jdt:6.18    At this the people fell prostrate and worshiped God; and they cried out:
 jdt:6.19    "Lord, God of heaven, behold their arrogance! Have pity on the lowliness of our people, and look with favor this day on those who are consecrated to you."
 jdt:6.20    Then they reassured Achior and praised him highly.
 jdt:6.21    Uzziah brought him from the assembly to his home, where he gave a banquet for the elders. That whole night they called upon the God of Israel for help.
   
 jdt:7.1     Now in those days Judith, daughter of Merari, son of Joseph, son of Oziel, son of Elkiah, son of Ananias, son of Gideon, son of Raphain, son of Ahitob, son of Elijah, son of Hilkiah, son of Eliab, son of Nathanael, son of Salamiel, son of Sarasadai, son of Simeon, son of Israel, heard of this.
 jdt:7.1     The following day Holofernes ordered his whole army, and all the allied troops that had come to his support, to move against Bethulia, seize the mountain passes, and engage the Israelites in battle.
 jdt:7.2     That same day all their fighting men went into action. Their forces numbered a hundred and seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand horsemen, not counting the baggage train or the men who accompanied it on foot-a very great army.
 jdt:7.3     They encamped at the spring in the valley near Bethulia, and spread out in breadth toward Dothan as far as Balbaim, and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.
 jdt:7.4     When the Israelites saw how many there were, they said to one another in great dismay: "Soon they will devour the whole country. Neither the high mountains nor the valleys and hills can support the mass of them."
 jdt:7.5     Yet they all seized their weapons, lighted fires on their bastions, and kept watch throughout the night.
 jdt:7.6     On the second day Holofernes led out all his cavalry in the sight of the Israelites who were in Bethulia.
 jdt:7.7     He reconnoitered the approaches to their city and located their sources of water; these he seized, stationing armed detachments around them, while he himself returned to his troops.
 jdt:7.8     All the commanders of the Edomites and all the leaders of the Ammonites, together with the generals of the seacoast, came to Holofernes and said:
 jdt:7.9.    "Sir, listen to what we have to say, that there may be no losses among your troops.
 jdt:7.10    These Israelites do not rely on their spears, but on the height of the mountains where they dwell; it is not easy to reach the summit of their mountains.
 jdt:7.11    Therefore, sir, do not attack them in regular formation; thus not a single one of your troops will fall.
 jdt:7.12    Stay in your camp, and spare all your soldiers. Have some of your servants keep control of the source of water that flows out at the base of the mountain,
 jdt:7.13    for that is where the inhabitants of Bethulia get their water. Then thirst will begin to carry them off, and they will surrender their city. Meanwhile, we and our men will go up to the summits of the nearby mountains, and encamp there to guard against anyone's leaving the city.
 jdt:7.14    They and their wives and children will languish with hunger, and even before the sword strikes them they will be laid low in the streets of their city.
 jdt:7.15    Thus you will render them dire punishment for their rebellion and their refusal to meet you peacefully."
 jdt:7.16    Their words pleased Holofernes and all his ministers, and he ordered their proposal to be carried out.
 jdt:7.17    Thereupon the Moabites moved camp, together with five thousand Assyrians. They encamped in the valley, and held the water supply and the springs of the Israelites.
 jdt:7.18    The Edomites and the Ammonites went up and encamped in the mountain region opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men to the south and to the east opposite Egrebel, near Chusi, which is on Wadi Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army was encamped in the plain, covering the whole countryside. Their enormous store of tents and equipment was spread out in profusion everywhere.
 jdt:7.19    The Israelites cried to the Lord, their God, for they were disheartened, since all their enemies had them surrounded, and there was no way of slipping through their lines.
 jdt:7.20    The whole Assyrian camp, infantry, chariots, and cavalry, kept them thus surrounded for thirty-four days. All the reservoirs of water failed the inhabitants of Bethulia,
 jdt:7.21    and the cisterns ran dry, so that on no day did they have enough to drink, but their drinking water was rationed.
 jdt:7.22    Their children fainted away, and the women and youths were consumed with thirst and were collapsing in the streets and gateways of the city, with no strength left in them.
 jdt:7.23    All the people, therefore, including youths, women, and children, went in a crowd to Uzziah and the rulers of the city. They set up a great clamor and said before the elders:
 jdt:7.24    "God judge between you and us! You have done us grave injustice in not making peace with the Assyrians.
 jdt:7.25    There is no help for us now! Instead, God has sold us into their power by laying us prostrate before them in thirst and utter exhaustion.
 jdt:7.26    Therefore, summon them and deliver the whole city as booty to the troops of Holofernes and to all his forces;
 jdt:7.27    we would be better off to become their prey. We should indeed be made slaves, but at least we should live, and not have to behold our little ones dying before our eyes and our wives and children breathing out their souls.
 jdt:7.28    We adjure you by heaven and earth, and by our God, the Lord of our forefathers, who is punishing us for our sins and those of our forefathers, to do as we have proposed, this very day."
 jdt:7.29    All in the assembly with one accord broke into shrill wailing and loud cries to the Lord their God.
 jdt:7.30    But Uzziah said to them, "Courage, my brothers! Let us wait five days more for the Lord our God, to show his mercy toward us; he will not utterly forsake us.
 jdt:7.31    But if those days pass without help coming to us, I will do as you say."
 jdt:7.32    Then he dispersed the men to their posts, and they returned to the walls and towers of the city; the women and children he sent to their homes. Throughout the city they were in great misery.
   
 jdt:8.1     Now in those days Judith, daughter of Merari, son of Joseph, son of Oziel, son of Elkiah, son of Gideon, son of Raphian, son of Ahitob, son of Eliab, son of Nathanael, son of Salamiel, son of Sarasadai, son of Simeon, son of Israel, heard of this.
 jdt:8.2     Her husband, Manasseh, of her own tribe and clan, had died at the time of the barley harvest.
 jdt:8.3     While he was in the field supervising those who bound the sheaves, he suffered sunstroke; and he died of this illness in Bethulia, his native city. He was buried with his forefathers in the field between Dothan and Balamon.
 jdt:8.4     The widowed Judith remained three years and four months at home,
 jdt:8.5     where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house. She put sackcloth about her loins and wore widow's weeds.
 jdt:8.6     She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except sabbath eves and sabbaths, new moon eves and new moons, feastdays and holidays of the house of Israel.
 jdt:8.7     She was beautifully formed and lovely to behold. Her husband, Manasseh, had left her gold and silver, servants and maids, livestock and fields, which she was maintaining.
 jdt:8.8     No one had a bad word to say about her, for she was a very God-fearing woman.
 jdt:8.9     When Judith, therefore, heard of the harsh words which the people, discouraged by their lack of water, had spoken against their ruler, and of all that Uzziah had said to them in reply, swearing that he would hand over the city to the Assyrians at the end of five days,
 jdt:8.10    she sent the maid who was in charge of all her things to ask Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, the elders of the city, to visit her.
 jdt:8.11    When they came, she said to them: "Listen to me, you rulers of the people of Bethulia. What you said to the people today is not proper. When you promised to hand over the city to our enemies at the end of five days unless within that time the Lord comes to our aid, you interposed between God and yourselves this oath which you took.
 jdt:8.12    Who are you, then, that you should have put God to the test this day, setting yourselves in the place of God in human affairs?
 jdt:8.13    It is the Lord Almighty for whom you are laying down conditions; will you never understand anything?
 jdt:8.14    You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or grasp the workings of the human mind; how then can you fathom God, who has made all these things, discern his mind, and understand his plan? "No, my brothers, do not anger the Lord our God.
 jdt:8.15    For if he does not wish to come to our aid within the five days, he has it equally within his power to protect us at such time as he pleases, or to destroy us in the face of our enemies.
 jdt:8.16    It is not for you to make the Lord our God give surety for his plans. "God is not man that he should be moved by threats, nor human, that he may be given an ultimatum.
 jdt:8.17    "So while we wait for the salvation that comes from him, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our cry if it is his good pleasure.
 jdt:8.18    For there has not risen among us in recent generations, nor does there exist today, any tribe, or clan, or town, or city of ours that worships gods made by hands, as happened in former days.
 jdt:8.19    It was for such conduct that our forefathers were handed over to the sword and to pillage, and fell with great destruction before our enemies.
 jdt:8.20    But since we acknowledge no other god but the Lord, we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our people.
 jdt:8.21    If we are taken, all Judea will fall, our sanctuary will be plundered, and God will make us pay for its profanation with our life's blood.
 jdt:8.22    For the slaughter of our kinsmen, for the taking of exiles from the land, and for the devastation of our inheritance, he will lay the guilt on our heads. Wherever we shall be enslaved among the nations, we shall be a mockery and a reproach in the eyes of our masters.
 jdt:8.23    Our enslavement will not be turned to our benefit, but the Lord our God, will maintain it to our disgrace.
 jdt:8.24    "Therefore, my brothers, let us set an example for our kinsmen. Their lives depend on us, and the defense of the sanctuary, the temple, and the altar rests with us.
 jdt:8.25    Besides all this, we should be grateful to the Lord our God, for putting us to the test, as he did our forefathers.
 jdt:8.26    Recall how he dealt with Abraham, and how he tried Isaac, and all that happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia while he was tending the flocks of Laban, his mother's brother.
 jdt:8.27    Not for vengeance did the Lord put them in the crucible to try their hearts, nor has he done so with us. It is by way of admonition that he chastises those who are close to him."
 jdt:8.28    Then Uzziah said to her: "All that you have said was spoken with good sense, and no one can gainsay your words.
 jdt:8.29    Not today only is your wisdom made evident, but from your earliest years all the people have recognized your prudence, which corresponds to the worthy dispositions of your heart.
 jdt:8.30    The people, however, were so tortured with thirst that they forced us to speak to them as we did, and to bind ourselves by an oath that we cannot break.
 jdt:8.31    But now, God-fearing woman that you are, pray for us that the Lord may send rain to fill up our cisterns, lest we be weakened still further."
 jdt:8.32    Then Judith said to them: "Listen to me! I will do something that will go down from generation to generation among the descendants of our race.
 jdt:8.33    Stand at the gate tonight to let me pass through with my maid; and within the days you have specified before you will surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will rescue Israel by my hand.
 jdt:8.34    You must not inquire into what I am doing, for I will not tell you until my plan has been accomplished."
 jdt:8.35    Uzziah and the rulers said to her, "Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you to take vengeance upon our enemies!"
 jdt:8.36    Then they withdrew from the tent and returned to their posts.
   
 jdt:9.1     Judith threw herself down prostrate, with ashes strewn upon her head, and wearing nothing over her sackcloth. While the incense was being offered in the temple of God in Jerusalem that evening, Judith prayed to the Lord with a loud voice:
 jdt:9.2     "Lord, God of my forefather Simeon! You put a sword into his hand to take revenge upon the foreigners who had immodestly loosened the maiden's girdle, shamefully exposed her thighs, and disgracefully violated her body. This they did, though you forbade it.
 jdt:9.3     Therefore you had their rulers slaughtered; and you covered with their blood the bed in which they lay deceived, the same bed that had felt the shame of their own deceiving. You smote the slaves together with their princes, and the princes together with their servants.
 jdt:9.4     Their wives you handed over to plunder, and their daughters to captivity; and all the spoils you divided among your favored sons, who burned with zeal for you, and in their abhorrence of the defilement of their kinswoman, called on you for help.
 jdt:9.5     "O God, my God, hear me also, a widow. It is you who were the author of those events and of what preceded and followed them. The present, also, and the future you have planned. Whatever you devise comes into being;
 jdt:9.6     the things you decide on come forward and say, 'Here we are!' All your ways are in readiness, and your judgment is made with foreknowledge.
 jdt:9.7     "Here are the Assyrians, a vast force, priding themselves on horse and rider, boasting of the power of their infantry, trusting in shield and spear, bow and sling. They do not know that
 jdt:9.8     " 'You, the Lord, crush warfare; Lord is your name. Shatter their strength in your might, and crush their force in your wrath; for they have resolved to profane your sanctuary, to defile the tent where your glorious name resides, and to overthrow with iron the horns of your altar.
 jdt:9.9     See their pride, and send forth your wrath upon their heads. Give me, a widow, the strong hand to execute my plan.
 jdt:9.10    With the guile of my lips, smite the slave together with the ruler, the ruler together with his servant; crush their pride by the hand of a woman.
 jdt:9.11    "Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your power depend upon stalwart men; but you are the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the supporter of the weak, the protector of the forsaken, the savior of those without hope.
 jdt:9.12    "Please, please, God of my forefather, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all you have created, hear my prayer!
 jdt:9.13    Let my guileful speech bring wound and wale on those who have planned dire things against your covenant, your holy temple, Mount Zion, and the homes your children have inherited.
 jdt:9.14    Let your whole nation and all the tribes know clearly that you are the god of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone."
   
 jdt:10.1    As soon as Judith had thus concluded, and ceased her invocation to the God of Israel,
 jdt:10.2    she rose from the ground. She called her maid and they went down into the house, which she used only on sabbaths and feast days.
 jdt:10.3    She took off the sackcloth she had on, laid aside the garments of her widowhood, washed her body with water, and anointed it with rich ointment. She arranged her hair and bound it with a fillet, and put on the festive attire she had worn while her husband, Manasseh, was living.
 jdt:10.4    She chose sandals for her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her other jewelry. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to captivate the eyes of all the men who should see her.
 jdt:10.5    She gave her maid a leather flask of wine and a cruse of oil. She filled a bag with roasted grain, fig cakes, bread and cheese; all these provisions she wrapped up and gave to the maid to carry.
 jdt:10.6    Then they went out to the gate of the city of Bethulia and found Uzziah and the elders of the city, Chabri and Charmis, standing there.
 jdt:10.7    When these men saw Judith transformed in looks and differently dressed, they were very much astounded at her beauty and said to her,
 jdt:10.8    "May the God of our fathers bring you to favor, and make your undertaking a success, for the glory of the Israelites and the exaltation of Jerusalem." Judith bowed down to God. Then she said to them,
 jdt:10.9    "Order the gate of the city opened for me, that I may go to carry out the business we discussed." So they ordered the youths to open the gate for her as she requested.
 jdt:10.10   When they did so, Judith and her maid went out. The men of the city kept her in view as she went down the mountain and crossed the valley; then they lost sight of her.
 jdt:10.11   As Judith and her maid walked directly across the valley, they encountered the Assyrian outpost.
 jdt:10.12   The men took her in custody and asked her, "To what people do you belong? Where do you come from, and where are you going?" She replied: "I am a daughter of the Hebrews, and I am fleeing from them, because they are about to be delivered up to you as prey.
 jdt:10.13   I have come to see Holofernes, the general in chief of your forces, to give him a trustworthy report; I will show him the route by which he can ascend and take possession of the whole mountain district without a single one of his men suffering injury or loss of life."
 jdt:10.14   When the men heard her words and gazed upon her face, which appeared wondrously beautiful to them, they said to her,
 jdt:10.15   "By coming down thus promptly to see our master, you have saved your life. Now go to his tent; some of our men will accompany you to present you to him.
 jdt:10.16   When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart; give him the report you speak of, and he will treat you well."
 jdt:10.17   So they detailed a hundred of their men as an escort for her and her maid, and these conducted them to the tent of Holofernes.
 jdt:10.18   When the news of her arrival spread among the tents, a crowd gathered in the camp. They came and stood around her as she waited outside the tent of Holofernes, while he was being informed about her.
 jdt:10.19   They marveled at her beauty, regarding the Israelites with wonder because of her, and they said to one another, "Who can despise this people that has such women among them? It is not wise to leave one man of them alive, for if any were to be spared they could beguile the whole world."
 jdt:10.20   The guard of Holofernes and all his servants came out and ushered her into the tent.
 jdt:10.21   Now Holofernes was reclining on his bed under a canopy with a netting of crimson and gold, emeralds and other precious stones.
 jdt:10.22   When they announced her to him, he came out to the antechamber, preceded by silver lamps;
 jdt:10.23   and when Holofernes and his servants beheld Judith, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She threw herself down prostrate before him, but his servants raised her up.
   
 jdt:11.1    Then Holofernes said to her: "Take courage, lady; have no fear in your heart! Never have I harmed anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth.
 jdt:11.2    Nor would I have raised my spear against your people who dwell in the mountain region, had they not despised me and brought this upon themselves.
 jdt:11.3    But now tell me why you fled from them and came to us. In any case, you have come to safety. Take courage! Your life is spared tonight and for the future.
 jdt:11.4    No one at all will harm you. Rather, you will be well treated, as are all the servants of my lord, King Nebuchadnezzar."
 jdt:11.5    Judith answered him: "Listen to the words of your servant, and let your handmaid speak in your presence! I will tell no lie to my lord this night,
 jdt:11.6    and if you follow out the words of your handmaid, God will give you complete success, and my lord will not fail in any of his undertakings.
 jdt:11.7    By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to set all creatures aright! not only do men serve him through you; but even the wild beasts and the cattle and the birds of the air, because of your strength, will live for Nebuchadnezzar and his whole house.
 jdt:11.8    Indeed, we have heard of your wisdom and sagacity, and all the world is aware that throughout the kingdom you alone are competent, rich in experience, and distinguished in military strategy.
 jdt:11.9    "As for Achior's speech in your council, we have heard of it. When the men of Bethulia spared him, he told them all he had said to you.
 jdt:11.10   So then, my lord and master, do not disregard his word, but bear it in mind, for it is true. For our people are not punished, nor does the sword prevail against them, except when they sin against their God.
 jdt:11.11   But now their guilt has caught up with them, by which they bring the wrath of their God upon them whenever they do wrong; so that my lord will not be repulsed and fail, but death will overtake them.
 jdt:11.12   Since their food gave out and all their water ran low, they decided to kill their animals, and determined to consume all the things which God in his laws forbade them to eat.
 jdt:11.13   They decreed that they would use up the first fruits of grain and the tithes of wine and oil which they had sanctified and reserved for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in Jerusalem: things which no layman should even touch with his hands.
 jdt:11.14   They have sent messengers to Jerusalem to bring back to them authorization from the council of the elders; for the inhabitants there have also done these things.
 jdt:11.15   On the very day when the response reaches them and they act upon it, they will be handed over to you for destruction.
 jdt:11.16   "As soon as I, your handmaid, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to perform with you such deeds that people throughout the world will be astonished on hearing of them.
 jdt:11.17   Your handmaid is, indeed, a God-fearing woman, serving the God of heaven night and day. Now I will remain with you, my lord; but each night your handmaid will go out to the ravine and pray to God. He will tell me when the Israelites have committed their crimes.
 jdt:11.18   Then I will come and let you know, so that you may go out with your whole force, and not one of them will be able to withstand you.
 jdt:11.19   I will lead you through Judea, till you come to Jerusalem, and there I will set up your judgment seat. You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and not even a dog will growl at you. This was told me, and announced to me in advance, and I in turn have been sent to tell you."
 jdt:11.20   Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants; they marveled at her wisdom and exclaimed,
 jdt:11.21   "No other woman from one end of the world to the other looks so beautiful and speaks so wisely!"
 jdt:11.22   Then Holofernes said to her: "God has done well in sending you ahead of your people, to bring victory to our arms, and destruction to those who have despised my lord.
 jdt:11.23   You are fair to behold, and your words are well spoken. If you do as you have said, your God will be my God; you shall dwell in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar, and shall be renowned throughout the earth."
   
 jdt:12.1    Then he ordered them to lead her into the room where his silverware was kept, and bade them set a table for her with his own delicacies to eat and his own wine to drink.
 jdt:12.2    But Judith said, "I will not partake of them, lest it be an occasion of sin; but I shall be amply supplied from the things I brought with me."
 jdt:12.3    Holofernes asked her: "But if your provisions give out, where shall we get more of the same to provide for you? None of your people are with us."
 jdt:12.4    Judith answered him, "As surely as you, my lord, live, your handmaid will not use up her supplies till the Lord accomplishes by my hand what he has determined."
 jdt:12.5    Then the servants of Holofernes led her into the tent, where she slept till midnight. In the night watch just before dawn, she rose
 jdt:12.6    and sent this message to Holofernes, "Give orders, my lord, to let your handmaid go out for prayer."
 jdt:12.7    So Holofernes ordered his bodyguard not to hinder her. Thus she stayed in the camp three days. Each night she went out to the ravine of Bethulia, where she washed herself at the spring of the camp.
 jdt:12.8    After bathing, she besought the Lord, the God of Israel, to direct her way for the triumph of his people.
 jdt:12.9    Then she returned purified to the tent, and remained there until her food was brought to her toward evening.
 jdt:12.10   On the fourth day Holofernes gave a banquet for his servants alone, to which he did not invite any of the officers.
 jdt:12.11   And he said to Bagoas, the eunuch in charge of his household: "Go and persuade this Hebrew woman in your care to come and to eat and drink with us.
 jdt:12.12   It would be a disgrace for us to have such a woman with us without enjoying her company. If we do not entice her, she will laugh us to scorn."
 jdt:12.13   So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and came to Judith and said, "So fair a maiden should not be reluctant to come to my lord to be honored by him, to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to be like one of the Assyrian women who live in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar."
 jdt:12.14   She replied, "Who am I to refuse my lord? Whatever is pleasing to him I will promptly do. This will be a joy for me till the day of my death."
 jdt:12.15   Thereupon she proceeded to put on her festive garments and all her feminine adornments. Meanwhile her maid went ahead and spread out on the ground for her in front of Holofernes the fleece Bagoas had furnished for her daily use in reclining at her dinner.
 jdt:12.16   Then Judith came in and reclined on it. The heart of Holofernes was in rapture over her, and his spirit was shaken. He was burning with the desire to possess her, for he had been biding his time to seduce her from the day he saw her.
 jdt:12.17   Holofernes said to her, "Drink and be merry with us!"
 jdt:12.18   Judith replied, "I will gladly drink, my lord, for at no time since I was born have I ever enjoyed life as much as I do today."
 jdt:12.19   She then took the things her maid had prepared, and ate and drank in his presence.
 jdt:12.20   Holofernes, charmed by her, drank a great quantity of wine, more than he had ever drunk on one single day in his life.
   
 jdt:13.1    When it grew late, his servants quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from the outside and excluded the attendants from their master's presence. They went off to their beds, for they were all tired from the prolonged banquet.
 jdt:13.2    Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes, who lay prostrate on his bed, for he was sodden with wine.
 jdt:13.3    She had ordered her maid to stand outside the bedroom and wait, as on the other days, for her to come out; she said she would be going out for her prayer. To Bagoas she had said this also.
 jdt:13.4    When all had departed, and no one, small or great, was left in the bedroom, Judith stood by Holofernes' bed and said within herself: "O Lord, God of all might, in this hour look graciously on my undertaking for the exaltation of Jerusalem;
 jdt:13.5    now is the time for aiding your heritage and for carrying out my design to shatter the enemies who have risen against us."
 jdt:13.6    She went to the bedpost near the head of Holofernes, and taking his sword from it,
 jdt:13.7    drew close to the bed, grasped the hair of his head, and said, "Strengthen me this day, O God of Israel!"
 jdt:13.8    Then with all her might she struck him twice in the neck and cut off his head.
 jdt:13.9    She rolled his body off the bed and took the canopy from its supports. Soon afterward, she came out and handed over the head of Holofernes to her maid,
 jdt:13.10   who put it into her food pouch; and the two went off together as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They passed through the camp, and skirting the ravine, reached Bethulia on the mountain. As they approached its gates,
 jdt:13.11   Judith shouted to the guards from a distance: "Open! Open the gate! God, our God, is with us. Once more he has made manifest his strength in Israel and his power against our enemies; he has done it this very day."
 jdt:13.12   When the citizens heard her voice, they quickly descended to their city gate and summoned the city elders.
 jdt:13.13   All the people, from the least to the greatest, hurriedly assembled, for her return seemed unbelievable. They opened the gate and welcomed the two women. They made a fire for light; and when they gathered around the two,
 jdt:13.14   Judith urged them with a loud voice: "Praise God, praise him! Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy from the house of Israel, but has shattered our enemies by my hand this very night."
 jdt:13.15   Then she took the head out of the pouch, showed it to them, and said: "Here is the head of Holofernes, general in charge of the Assyrian army, and here is the canopy under which he lay in his drunkenness. The Lord struck him down by the hand of a woman.
 jdt:13.16   As the Lord lives, who has protected me in the path I have followed, I swear that it was my face that seduced Holofernes to his ruin, and that he did not sin with me to my defilement or disgrace."
 jdt:13.17   All the people were greatly astonished. They bowed down and worshiped God, saying with one accord, "Blessed are you, our God, who today have brought to nought the enemies of your people."
 jdt:13.18   Then Uzziah said to her: "Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the chief of our enemies.
 jdt:13.19   Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God.
 jdt:13.20   May God make this redound to your everlasting honor, rewarding you with blessings, because you risked your life when your people were being oppressed, and you averted our disaster, walking uprightly before our God." And all the people answered, "Amen! Amen!"
   
 jdt:14.1    Then Judith said to them: "Listen to me, my brothers. Take this head and hang it on the parapet of your wall.
 jdt:14.2    At daybreak, when the sun rises on the earth, let each of you seize his weapons, and let all the able-bodied men rush out of the city under command of a captain, as if about to go down into the plain against the advance guard of the Assyrians, but without going down.
 jdt:14.3    They will seize their armor and hurry to their camp to awaken the generals of the Assyrian army. When they run to the tent of Holofernes and do not find him, panic will seize them, and they will flee before you.
 jdt:14.4    Then you and all the other inhabitants of the whole territory of Israel will pursue them and strike them down in their tracks.
 jdt:14.5    But before doing this, summon for me Achior the Ammonite, that he may see and recognize the one who despised the house of Israel and sent him here to meet his death."
 jdt:14.6    So they called 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 forward in a faint.
 jdt:14.7    Then, after they lifted him up, he threw himself at the feet of Judith in homage, saying: "Blessed are you in every tent of Judah; and in every foreign nation, all who hear of you will be struck with terror.
 jdt:14.8    But now, tell me all that you did during these days." So Judith told him, in the presence of the people, all that she had been doing from the day she left till the time she began speaking to them.
 jdt:14.9    When she finished her account, the people cheered loudly, and their city resounded with shouts of joy.
 jdt:14.10   Now Achior, seeing all that the God of Israel had done, believed firmly in him. He had the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, and he has been united with the house of Israel to the present day.
 jdt:14.11   At daybreak they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall. Then all the Israelite men took up their arms and went to the slopes of the mountain.
 jdt:14.12   When the Assyrians saw them, they notified their captains; these, in turn, went to the generals and division leaders and all their other commanders.
 jdt:14.13   They came to the tent of Holofernes and said to the one in charge of all his things, "Waken our master, for the slaves have dared come down to give us battle, to their utter destruction."
 jdt:14.14   Bagoas went in, and knocked at the entry of the tent, presuming that he was sleeping with Judith.
 jdt:14.15   As no one answered, he parted the curtains, entered the bedroom, and found him lying on the floor, a headless corpse.
 jdt:14.16   He broke into a loud clamor of weeping, groaning, and howling, and rent his garments.
 jdt:14.17   Then he entered the tent where Judith had her quarters; and, not finding her, he rushed out to the troops and cried:
 jdt:14.18   "The slaves have duped us! A single Hebrew woman has brought disgrace on the house of King Nebuchadnezzar. Here is Holofernes headless on the ground!"
 jdt:14.19   When the commanders of the Assyrian army heard these words, they rent their tunics and were seized with consternation. Loud screaming and howling arose in the camp.
   
 jdt:15.1    On hearing what had happened, those still in their tents were amazed,
 jdt:15.2    and overcome with fear and trembling. No one kept ranks any longer; they scattered in all directions, and fled along every road, both through the valley and in the mountains.
 jdt:15.3    Those also who were stationed in the mountain district around Bethulia took to flight. Then all the Israelite warriors overwhelmed them.
 jdt:15.4    Uzziah sent messengers to Betomasthaim, to Choba and Kona, and to the whole country of Israel to report what had happened, that all might fall upon the enemy and destroy them.
 jdt:15.5    On hearing this, all the Israelites, with one accord, attacked them and cut them down as far as Choba. Even those from Jerusalem and the rest of the mountain region took part in this, for they too had been notified of the happenings in the camp of their enemies. The Gileadites and the Galileans struck the enemy's flanks with great slaughter, even beyond Damascus and its territory.
 jdt:15.6    The remaining inhabitants of Bethulia swept down on the camp of the Assyrians, plundered it, and acquired great riches.
 jdt:15.7    The Israelites who returned from the slaughter took possession of what was left, till the towns and villages in the mountains and on the plain were crammed with the enormous quantity of booty they had seized.
 jdt:15.8    The high priest Joakim and the elders of the Israelites, who dwelt in Jerusalem, came to see for themselves the good things that the Lord had done for Israel, and to meet and congratulate Judith.
 jdt:15.9    When they had visited her, all with one accord blessed her, saying: "You are the glory of Jerusalem, the surpassing joy of Israel; You are the splendid boast of our people.
 jdt:15.10   With your own hand you have done all this; You have done good to Israel, and God is pleased with what you have wrought. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty forever and ever!" And all the people answered, "Amen!"
 jdt:15.11   For thirty days the whole populace plundered the camp, giving Judith the tent of Holofernes, with all his silver, his couches, his dishes, and all his furniture, which she accepted. She harnessed her mules, hitched her wagons to them, and loaded these things on them.
 jdt:15.12   All the women of Israel gathered to see her; and they blessed her and performed a dance in her honor. She took branches in her hands and distributed them to the women around her,
 jdt:15.13   and she and the other women crowned themselves with garlands of olive leaves. At the head of all the people, she led the women in the dance, while the men of Israel followed in their armor, wearing garlands and singing hymns.
 jdt:15.14   Judith led all Israel in this song of thanksgiving, and the people swelled this hymn of praise:

 jdt:16.1    "Strike up the instruments, a song to my God with timbrels, chant to the Lord with cymbals; Sing to him a new song, exalt and acclaim his name.
 jdt:16.2    For the Lord is God; he crushes warfare, and sets his encampment among his people; he snatched me from the hands of my presecutors.
 jdt:16.3    "The Assyrian came from the mountains of the north, with the myriads of his forces he came; Their numbers blocked the torrents, their horses covered the hills.
 jdt:16.4    He threatened to burn my land, put my youths to the sword, Dash my babes to the ground, make my children a prey, and seize my virgins as spoil.
 jdt:16.5    "But the Lord Almighty thwarted them, by a woman's hand he confounded them.
 jdt:16.6    Not by youths was their mighty one struck down, nor did titans bring him low, nor huge giants attack him; But Judith, the daughter of Merari, by the beauty of her countenance disabled him.
 jdt:16.7    She took off her widow's garb to raise up the afflicted in Israel. She anointed her face with fragrant oil;
 jdt:16.8    with a fillet she fastened her tresses, and put on a linen robe to beguile him.
 jdt:16.9    Her sandals caught his eyes, and her beauty captivated his mind. The sword cut through his neck.
 jdt:16.10   "The Persians were dismayed at her daring, the Medes appalled at her boldness.
 jdt:16.11   When my lowly ones shouted, they were terrified; when my weaklings cried out, they trembled; at the sound of their war cry, they took to flight.
 jdt:16.12   Sons of slave girls pierced them through; the supposed sons of rebel mothers cut them down; they perished before the ranks of my Lord.
 jdt:16.13   "A new hymn I will sing to my God. O Lord, great are you and glorious, wonderful in power and unsurpassable.
 jdt:16.14   Let your every creature serve you; for you spoke, and they were made, You sent forth your spirit, and they were created; no one can resist your word.
 jdt:16.15   The mountains to their bases, and the seas, are shaken; the rocks, like wax, melt before your glance. "But to those who fear you, you are very merciful.
 jdt:16.16   Though the sweet odor of every sacrifice is a trifle, and the fat of all holocausts but little in your sight, one who fears the Lord is forever great.
 jdt:16.17   "Woe to the nations that rise against my people! the Lord Almighty will requite them; in the day of judgment he will punish them: He will send fire and worms into their flesh, and they shall burn and suffer forever."
 jdt:16.18   The people then went to Jerusalem to worship God; when they were purified, they offered their holocausts, freewill offerings, and gifts.
 jdt:16.19   Judith dedicated, as a votive offering to God, all the things of Holofernes that the people had given her, as well as the canopy that she herself had taken from his bedroom.
 jdt:16.20   For three months the people continued their celebration in Jerusalem before the sanctuary, and Judith remained with them.
 jdt:16.21   When those days were over, each one returned to his inheritance. Judith went back to Bethulia and remained on her estate. For the rest of her life she was renowned throughout the land.
 jdt:16.22   Many wished to marry her, but she gave herself to no man all the days of her life from the time of the death and burial of her husband, Manasseh.
 jdt:16.23   She lived to be very old in the house of her husband, reaching the advanced age of a hundred and five. She died in Bethulia, where they buried her in the tomb of her husband, Manasseh;
 jdt:16.24   and the house of Israel mourned her for seven days. Before she died, she distributed her goods to the relatives of her husband, Manasseh, and to her own relatives; and to the maid she gave her freedom.
 jdt16.25   During the life of Judith and for a long time after her death, no one again disturbed the Israelites. [end of judith]

