In the morning they both got up early and went to the wedding celebration. When they came into Raguel’s house, they found Tobias reclining at table. He sprang up and greeted Gabael, who wept and blessed him with the words, “Good and noble son of a father good and noble, upright and generous! May the Lord grant the blessing of heaven to you and your wife and to your father and to the mother of your wife. Blessed be God, for I see in Tobias the very image of my cousin Tobit.”

and escape off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will occur and will happen to Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel whom God sent will occur. None of all their words will fail, but all will come true at their appointed times. So it will be safer in Media than among the Assyrians or in Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has said will be fulfilled and will occur; not a single word of the prophecies will fail. All of our kindred, inhabitants of the land of Israel, will be counted and taken as captives from the good land, and the whole land of Israel will be desolate; even Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate. And the temple of God in it will be burned to the ground and will be desolate for a while.

Judith Prepares to Go to Holofernes

When Judith had stopped crying out to the God of Israel and had ended all these words,

If you follow the words of your servant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes.

Addition C

Mordecai’s Prayer

Then Mordecai prayed to the Lord, calling to remembrance all the works of the Lord. He said, “O Lord, Lord, King of all powers, for the universe is in your power and there is no one who can oppose you when it is your will to save Israel, for you have made heaven and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven. You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, the Lord. You know all things; you know, O Lord, that it was not in insolence or pride or for any love of glory that I did this and refused to bow down to this proud Haman, for I would have been willing to kiss the soles of his feet to save Israel! But I did this so that I might not set human glory above the glory of God, and I will not bow down to anyone but you, who are my Lord, and I will not do these things in pride. And now, O Lord God and King, God of Abraham, spare your people, for the eyes of our foes are upon us to annihilate us, and they desire to destroy the inheritance that has been yours from the beginning. Do not neglect your portion, which you redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. Hear my prayer and have mercy upon your inheritance; turn our mourning into feasting that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; do not destroy the lips of those who praise you.” And all Israel cried out with all their might, for their death was before their eyes.

Esther’s Prayer

Then Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, fled to the Lord. She took off the garments of her honor and put on the garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she utterly humbled her body; every part that she loved to adorn she covered with her tangled hair. She prayed to the Lord God of Israel and said: “O my Lord, you alone are our king; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, for my danger is in my hand. Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors from among all their forebears for an everlasting inheritance and that you did for them all that you said. And now we have sinned before you, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, O Lord! And now they are not satisfied that we are in bitter slavery, but they have set their hands on the hands of their idols to abolish what your mouth has ordained and to destroy your inheritance, to stop the mouths of those who praise you and to quench your altar and the glory of your house, to open the mouths of the nations for the praise of vain idols and to magnify forever a mortal king. “O Lord, do not surrender your scepter to what has no being, and do not let them laugh at our downfall, but turn their plan against them and make an example of him who began this against us. Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in this time of our affliction and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion! Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him. But save us by your hand and help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, O Lord. You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I hate the splendor of the lawless and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien. You know my necessity, that I abhor the sign of my proud position that is upon my head on days when I appear in public. I abhor it like a menstrual cloth, and I do not wear it on the days when I am at rest. And your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the king’s feast or drunk the wine of libations. Your servant has had no joy since the day that I was brought here until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraham. O God, whose might is over all, hear the voice of the despairing and save us from the hands of evildoers. And save me from my fear!”

End of Addition C

Addition D

Esther Is Received by the King

On the third day, when she ended her prayer, she took off the garments in which she had worshiped and arrayed herself in the garments of her honor. Then, majestically adorned, after invoking the aid of the all-seeing God and Savior, she took two maids with her; on one she leaned gently for support, while the other followed, carrying her train. She was radiant with perfect beauty, and she looked happy, as if beloved, but her heart was frozen with fear. When she had gone through all the doors, she stood before the king. He was seated on his royal throne, clothed in the full array of his majesty, all covered with gold and precious stones. He was most terrifying. Lifting his face, ablaze with glory, he looked at her in fierce anger. The queen faltered, turned pale and faint, and collapsed on the head of the maid who went in front of her. Then God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in alarm he sprang from his throne and took her in his arms until she came to herself. He comforted her with soothing words and said to her, “What is it, Esther? I am your kin. Take courage. You shall not die, for our law applies only to our subjects. Come near.” Then he raised the golden scepter and touched her neck with it; he embraced her and said, “Speak to me.” She said to him, “I saw you, my lord, like an angel of God, and my heart was shaken with fear at your glory. For you are wonderful, my lord, and your countenance is full of grace.” And while she was speaking, she fainted and fell. Then the king was agitated, and all his attendants tried to comfort her.

For wisdom is a kindly spirit, but it will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words, because God is witness of their inmost feelings and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues.

Prayer for Wisdom

“O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy, who have made all things by your word

The Works of God in Nature

I will now call to mind the works of the Lord and will declare what I have seen. By the word of the Lord his works are made, and all his creatures do his will.

We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,

Look, your children are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming, gathered from east and west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.

The king was greatly and continually filled with joy, organizing banquets in honor of all his idols, with a mind alienated from truth and with a profane mouth, praising speechless things that are not able even to communicate or to come to one’s help and uttering improper words against the supreme God.

But at these words he was filled with an overpowering wrath because by the providence of God his whole mind had been deranged concerning these matters, and with a threatening look he said,

But those who had held fast to God even to death and had received the full enjoyment of deliverance began their departure from the city crowned with all sorts of very fragrant flowers, joyfully and loudly giving thanks to the God of their ancestors, the eternal Savior of Israel, in words of praise and all kinds of melodious songs.

God’s Work in Creation

I said, “O Lord, you spoke at the beginning of creation and said on the first day, ‘Let heaven and earth be made,’ and your word accomplished the work.

O mother, soldier of God in the cause of piety, elder and woman! By steadfastness you have conquered even a tyrant, and in word and deed you have proved more powerful than a man.

By these words the mother of the seven encouraged and persuaded each of her sons to die rather than violate God’s commandment.