Judith's Song of Praise
1 Then Judith sang a song of thanksgiving there with all Israel present, and the people joined in this song of praise. 2 She sang,
“Praise my God and sing to him;
praise the Lord with drums and cymbals;
play a new song for him.
Praise him and call on him for help.
3 The Lord is a warrior who ends war.
He rescued me from my pursuers
and brought me back to his people's camp.
4 Down from the mountains of the north came the Assyrians,
with their tens of thousands of soldiers.
Their troops blocked the rivers in the valleys;
their cavalry covered the mountains.
5 They threatened to set fire to our country,
slaughter our young men,
dash our babies to the ground,
take our children away as captives,
and carry off all our young women.
6 But the Lord Almighty tricked them;
he used a woman to stop them.
7 Their hero was not slain by young soldiers
or attacked and killed by mighty giants.
It was Judith, the daughter of Merari,
who brought him down with her beauty.
8 She gave victory to the oppressed people of Israel,
when she took off her widow's clothes,
and put on a linen dress to entice him.
She put on her rich perfumes
and tied a ribbon around her hair.
9 Her dainty sandal caught his eye;
her beauty captured his heart.
Then the sword slashed through his neck.
10 The Persians trembled at her daring;
the Medes were amazed at her bravery.
11 Then our people shouted in victory.
They had been weak and oppressed,
but they forced the enemy to retreat in panic and fear.
12 We are the descendants of slaves,
but our enemies turned and ran;
we killed them like runaway slaves.
They were destroyed by the army of the Lord.
13 “I will sing a new song to my God.
O Lord, you are strong and glorious!
You have never been defeated.
14 Let all your creatures serve you.
You gave the command,
and all of them came into being;
you breathed on them,
and all of them were created.
No one can oppose your command.
15 The mountains and the seas tremble,
and rocks melt like wax when you come near.
But there is mercy for all who obey you.
16 The Lord is more pleased with those who obey him
than with all the choice meat on the altar,
or with all the most fragrant sacrifices.
17 The nations who rise up against my people are doomed.
The Lord Almighty will punish them on Judgment Day.
He will send fire and worms to devour their bodies,
and they will weep in pain forever.”
Judith's Fame
18 When the people arrived in Jerusalem, they purified themselves and worshiped God. They presented their burnt offerings, freewill offerings, and gifts. 19 Judith dedicated to God all of Holofernes' property, which the people had given to her. And as a special offering in fulfillment of a vow, she presented to the Lord the mosquito net which she had taken from Holofernes' bed. 20 For three months the people continued to celebrate in front of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Judith stayed there with them.
21 When the celebrations had ended, everyone returned home, and Judith went back to Bethulia to live on her own estate. For the rest of her life she was famous throughout the land of Israel. 22 Many men wanted to marry her, but she never remarried after the death of her husband Manasseh. 23-24 Her fame continued to spread, and she lived in the house her husband had left her. Before she died, Judith divided her property among her husband's and her own close relatives and set her slave woman free. When she died in Bethulia at the age of 105, she was buried beside her husband, and the people of Israel mourned her death for seven days. 25 As long as Judith lived, and for many years after her death, no one dared to threaten the people of Israel.
1 Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in all Israel, and all the people sang after her this song of praise.
2 And Judith said, Begin unto my God with timbrels, sing unto my Lord with cymbals: tune unto him a new psalm: exalt him, and call upon his name.
3 For God breaketh the battles: for among the camps in the midst of the people he hath delivered me out of the hands of them that persecuted me.
4 Assur came out of the mountains from the north, he came with ten thousands of his army, the multitude whereof stopped the torrents, and their horsemen have covered the hills.
5 He bragged that he would burn up my borders, and kill my young men with the sword, and dash the sucking children against the ground, and make mine infants as a prey, and my virgins as a spoil.
6 But the Almighty Lord hath disappointed them by the hand of a woman.
7 For the mighty one did not fall by the young men, neither did the sons of the Titans smite him, nor high giants set upon him: but Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her countenance.
8 For she put off the garment of her widowhood for the exaltation of those that were oppressed in Israel, and anointed her face with ointment, and bound her hair in a tire, and took a linen garment to deceive him.
9 Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty took his mind prisoner, and the fauchion passed through his neck.
10 The Persians quaked at her boldness, and the Medes were daunted at her hardiness.
11 Then my afflicted shouted for joy, and my weak ones cried aloud; but they were astonished: these lifted up their voices, but they were overthrown.
12 The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and wounded them as fugatives’ children: they perished by the battle of the Lord.
13 I will sing unto the Lord a new song: O Lord, thou art great and glorious, wonderful in strength, and invincible.
14 Let all creatures serve thee: for thou spakest, and they were made, thou didst send forth thy spirit, and it created them, and there is none that can resist thy voice.
15 For the mountains shall be moved from their foundations with the waters, the rocks shall melt as wax at thy presence: yet thou art merciful to them that fear thee.
16 For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee, and all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt offering: but he that feareth the Lord is great at all times.
17 Woe to the nations that rise up against my kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh; and they shall feel them, and weep for ever.
18 Now as soon as they entered into Jerusalem, they worshipped the Lord; and as soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, and their free offerings, and their gifts.
19 Judith also dedicated all the stuff of Holofernes, which the people had given her, and gave the canopy, which she had taken out of his bedchamber, for a gift unto the Lord.
20 So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for the space of three months and Judith remained with them.
21 After this time every one returned to his own inheritance, and Judith went to Bethulia, and remained in her own possession, and was in her time honourable in all the country.
22 And many desired her, but none knew her all the days of her life, after that Manasses her husband was dead, and was gathered to his people.
23 But she increased more and more in honour, and waxed old in her husband’s house, being an hundred and five years old, and made her maid free; so she died in Bethulia: and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasses.
24 And the house of Israel lamented her seven days: and before she died, she did distribute her goods to all them that were nearest of kindred to Manasses her husband, and to them that were the nearest of her kindred.
25 And there was none that made the children of Israel any more afraid in the days of Judith, nor a long time after her death.