Judith 7:8-8:36

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁸ Then all the chieftains of the people of Esau and all the leaders of the Mo′abites and the commanders of the coastland came to him and said, ⁹ “Let our lord hear a word, lest his army be defeated. ¹⁰ For these people, the Israelites, do not rely on their spears but on the height of the mountains where they live, for it is not easy to reach the tops of their mountains. ¹¹ Therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in battle array, and not a man of your army will fall. ¹² Remain in your camp, and keep all the men in your forces with you; only let your servants take possession of the spring of water that flows from the foot of the mountain— ¹³ for this is where all the people of Bethu′lia get their water. So thirst will destroy them, and they will give up their city. We and our people will go up to the tops of the nearby mountains and camp there to keep watch that not a man gets out of the city. ¹⁴ They and their wives and children will waste away with famine, and before the sword reaches them they will be strewn about in the streets where they live. ¹⁵ So you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled and did not receive you peaceably.”

¹⁶ These words pleased Holofer′nes and all his servants, and he gave orders to do as they had said. ¹⁷ So the army of the Am′monites moved forward, together with five thousand Assyrians, and they encamped in the valley and seized the water supply and the springs of the Israelites. ¹⁸ And the sons of Esau and the sons of Ammon went up and encamped in the hill country opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men toward the south and the east, toward Acr′aba, which is near Chusi beside the brook Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army encamped in the plain, and covered the whole face of the land, and their tents and supply trains spread out in great number, and they formed a vast multitude.

The Distress of the Israelites

¹⁹ The people of Israel cried out to the Lord their God, for their courage failed, because all their enemies had surrounded them and there was no way of escape from them. ²⁰ The whole Assyrian army, their infantry, chariots, and cavalry, surrounded them for thirty-four days, until all the vessels of water belonging to every inhabitant of Bethu′lia were empty; ²¹ their cisterns were going dry, and they did not have enough water to drink their fill for a single day, because it was measured out to them to drink. ²² Their children lost heart, and the women and young men fainted from thirst and fell down in the streets of the city and in the passages through the gates; there was no strength left in them any longer.

²³ Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children, gathered about Uzzi′ah and the rulers of the city and cried out with a loud voice, and said before all the elders, ²⁴ “God be judge between you and us! For you have done us a great injury in not making peace with the Assyrians. ²⁵ For now we have no one to help us; God has sold us into their hands, to strew us on the ground before them with thirst and utter destruction. ²⁶ Now call them in and surrender the whole city to the army of Holofer′nes and to all his forces, to be plundered. ²⁷ For it would be better for us to be captured by them;^[a] for we will be slaves, but our lives will be spared, and we shall not witness the death of our babes before our eyes, or see our wives and children draw their last breath. ²⁸ We call to witness against you heaven and earth and our God, the Lord of our fathers, who punishes us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers. Let him not do this day the things which we have described!”

²⁹ Then great and general lamentation arose throughout the assembly, and they cried out to the Lord God with a loud voice. ³⁰ And Uzzi′ah said to them, “Have courage, my brothers! Let us hold out for five more days; by that time the Lord our God will restore to us his mercy, for he will not forsake us utterly. ³¹ But if these days pass by, and no help comes for us, I will do what you say.”

³² Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up on the walls and towers of their city. The women and children he sent home. And they were greatly depressed in the city.

The Character of Judith

8 At that time Judith heard about these things: she was the daughter of Merar′i the son of Ox, son of Joseph, son of O′ziel, son of Elki′ah, son of Anani′as, son of Gid′eon, son of Raph′a-im, son of Ahi′tub, son of Eli′jah, son of Hilki′ah, son of El′iab, son of Nathan′ael, son of Salam′iel, son of Sarasad′ai, son of Israel.^{[b] 2} Her husband Manas′seh, who belonged to her tribe and family, had died during the barley harvest. ³ For as he stood overseeing the men who were binding sheaves in the field, he was overcome by the burning heat, and took to his bed and died in Bethu′lia his city. So they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothan and Bala′mon. ⁴ Judith had lived at home as a widow for three years and four months. ⁵ She set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house, and girded sackcloth about her loins and wore the garments of her widowhood. ⁶ She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except the day before the sabbath and the sabbath itself, the day before the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the feasts and days of rejoicing of the house of Israel. ⁷ She was beautiful in appearance, and had a very lovely face; and her husband Manas′seh had left her gold and silver, and men and women slaves, and cattle, and fields; and she maintained this estate. ⁸ No one spoke ill of her, for she feared God with great devotion.

Judith and the Elders

⁹ When Judith heard the wicked words spoken by the people against the ruler, because they were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzzi′ah said to them, and how he promised them under oath to surrender the city to the Assyrians after five days, ¹⁰ she sent her maid, who was in charge of all she possessed, to summon^[c] Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her city. ¹¹ They came to her, and she said to them,

“Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethu′lia! What you have said to the people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the city to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. ¹² Who are you, that have put God to the test this day, and are setting yourselves up in the place of^[d] God among the sons of men? ¹³ You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test—but you will never know anything! ¹⁴ You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart, nor find out what a man is thinking; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brethren, do not provoke the Lord our God to anger. ¹⁵ For if he does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our enemies. ¹⁶ Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God; for God is not like man, to be threatened, nor like a human being, to be won over by pleading. ¹⁷ Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him.

¹⁸ “For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or family or people or city of ours which worshiped gods made with hands, as was done in days gone by— ¹⁹ and that was why our fathers were handed over to the sword, and to be plundered, and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies. ²⁰ But we know no other god but him, and therefore we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation. ²¹ For if we are captured all Judea will be captured and our sanctuary will be plundered; and he will exact of us^[e] the penalty for its desecration. ²² And the slaughter of our brethren and the captivity of the land and the desolation of our inheritance—all this he will bring upon our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves; and we shall be an offense and a reproach in the eyes of those who acquire us. ²³ For our slavery will not bring us into favor, but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonor.

²⁴ “Now therefore, brethren, let us set an example to our brethren, for their lives depend upon us, and the sanctuary and the temple and the altar rest upon us. ²⁵ In spite of everything let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is putting us to the test as he did our forefathers. ²⁶ Remember what he did with Abraham, and how he tested Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopota′mia in Syria, while he was keeping the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother. ²⁷ For he has not tried us with fire, as he did them, to search their hearts, nor has he taken revenge upon us; but the Lord scourges those who draw near to him, in order to admonish them.”

²⁸ Then Uzzi′ah said to her, “All that you have said has been spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words. ²⁹ Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart’s disposition is right. ³⁰ But the people were very thirsty, and they compelled us to do for them what we have promised, and made us take an oath which we cannot break. ³¹ So pray for us, since you are a devout woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns and we will no longer be faint.”

³² Judith said to them, “Listen to me. I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants. ³³ Stand at the city gate tonight, and I will go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand. ³⁴ Only, do not try to find out what I plan; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do.”

³⁵ Uzzi′ah and the rulers said to her, “Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you, to take revenge upon our enemies.” ³⁶ So they returned from the tent and went to their posts.