The high priest Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan,

ordering them to seize the mountain passes, since by them Judea could be invaded, and it would be easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, wide enough for only two at a time to pass.

At one time they lived in Mesopotamia because they did not wish to follow the gods of their ancestors who were in Chaldea.

Since they had abandoned the ways of their ancestors and worshiped the God of heaven, the God they had come to know, their ancestors drove them out from the presence of their gods. So they fled to Mesopotamia and lived there for a long time.

They drove out before them the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and all the Gergesites and lived there a long time.

But Uzziah said to them, “Courage, my brothers and sisters! Let us hold out for five days more; by that time the Lord our God will turn his mercy to us again, for he will not forsake us utterly.

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.

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.

The Prayer of Judith

Then Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice and said,

Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out my design to destroy the enemies who have risen up against us.”

No one ever again spread terror among the Israelites during the lifetime of Judith or for a long time after her death.