The Assyrians Flee in Panic

15 When the men in the tents heard it, they were amazed at what had happened. ² Fear and trembling came over them, so that they did not wait for one another, but with one impulse all rushed out and fled by every path across the plain and through the hill country. ³ Those who had camped in the hills around Bethu′lia also took to flight. Then the men of Israel, every one that was a soldier, rushed out upon them. ⁴ And Uzzi′ah sent men to Betomastha′im and Be′bai and Choba and Kola, and to all the frontiers of Israel, to tell what had taken place and to urge all to rush out upon their enemies to destroy them. ⁵ And when the Israelites heard it, with one accord they fell upon the enemy,^[a] and cut them down as far as Choba. Those in Jerusalem and all the hill country also came, for they were told what had happened in the camp of the enemy; and those in Gil′ead and in Galilee outflanked them with great slaughter, even beyond Damas′cus and its borders. ⁶ The rest of the people of Bethu′lia fell upon the Assyrian camp and plundered it, and were greatly enriched. ⁷ And the Israelites, when they returned from the slaughter, took possession of what remained, and the villages and towns in the hill country and in the plain got a great amount of booty, for there was a vast quantity of it.

The Israelites Celebrate Their Victory

⁸ Then Jo′akim the high priest, and the senate of the people of Israel who lived at Jerusalem, came to witness the good things which the Lord had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to greet her. ⁹ And when they met her they all blessed her with one accord and said to her, “You are the exaltation of Jerusalem,^[b] you are the great glory of Israel, you are the great pride of our nation! ¹⁰ You have done all this singlehanded; you have done great good to Israel, and God is well pleased with it. May the Almighty Lord bless you for ever!” And all the people said, “So be it!”

¹¹ So all the people plundered the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of Holofer′nes and all his silver dishes and his beds and his bowls and all his furniture; and she took them and loaded her mule and hitched up her carts and piled the things on them.

¹² Then all the women of Israel gathered to see her, and blessed her, and some of them performed a dance for her; and she took branches in her hands and gave them to the women who were with her; ¹³ and they crowned themselves with olive wreaths, she and those who were with her; and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women, while all the men of Israel followed, bearing their arms and wearing garlands and with songs on their lips.

Judith Offers Her Hymn of Praise

16 Then Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel, and all the people loudly sang this song of praise. ² And Judith said,

¹⁸ When they arrived at Jerusalem they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts. ¹⁹ Judith also dedicated to God all the vessels of Holofer′nes, which the people had given her; and the canopy which she took for herself from his bedchamber she gave as a votive offering to the Lord. ²⁰ So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for three months, and Judith remained with them.

The Renown and Death of Judith

²¹ After this every one returned home to his own inheritance, and Judith went to Bethu′lia, and remained on her estate, and was honored in her time throughout the whole country. ²² Many desired to marry her, but she remained a widow all the days of her life after Manas′seh her husband died and was gathered to his people. ²³ She became more and more famous, and grew old in her husband’s house, until she was one hundred and five years old. She set her maid free. She died in Bethu′lia, and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manas′seh, ²⁴ and the house of Israel mourned for her seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her husband Manas′seh, and to her own nearest kindred. ²⁵ And no one ever again spread terror among the people of Israel in the days of Judith, or for a long time after her death.^[h]

Everything Has Its Time

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³ also that it is God’s gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. ¹⁴ I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him. ¹⁵ That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

Judgment and the Future Belong to God

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work. ¹⁸ I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts. ¹⁹ For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. ²⁰ All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. ²¹ Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth? ²² So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; who can bring him to see what will be after him?

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tibe′ri-us Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturae′a and Trachoni′tis, and Lysa′ni-as tetrarch of Abile′ne, ² in the high-priesthood of Annas and Ca′iaphas,^[a] the word of God came to John the son of Zechari′ah in the wilderness; ³ and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!^[b] Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the multitudes asked him, “What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” ¹² Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”