Judith 16

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 "Strike up the instruments, a song to my God with timbrels, chant to the Lord with cymbals; Sing to him a new song, exalt and acclaim his name.	1 Then Judith sung this canticle to the Lord, saying:
2 For the Lord is God; he crushes warfare, and sets his encampment among his people; he snatched me from the hands of my presecutors.	2 Begin ye to the Lord with timbrels, sing ye to the Lord with cymbals, tune unto him a new psalm, extol and call upon his name.
3 "The Assyrian came from the mountains of the north, with the myriads of his forces he came; Their numbers blocked the torrents, their horses covered the hills.	3 The Lord putteth an end to wars, the Lord is his name.
4 He threatened to burn my land, put my youths to the sword, Dash my babes to the ground, make my children a prey, and seize my virgins as spoil.	4 He hath set his camp in the midst of his people, to deliver us from the hand of all our enemies.
5 "But the Lord Almighty thwarted them, by a woman's hand he confounded them.	5 The Assyrians came out of the mountains from the north in the multitude of his strength: his multitude stopped up the torrents, and their horses covered the valleys.
6 Not by youths was their mighty one struck down, nor did titans bring him low, nor huge giants attack him; But Judith, the daughter of Merari, by the beauty of her countenance disabled him.	6 He bragged that he would set my borders on fire, and kill my young men with the sword, to make my infants a prey, and my virgins captives.
7 She took off her widow's garb to raise up the afflicted in Israel. She anointed her face with fragrant oil;	7 But the almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.
8 with a fillet she fastened her tresses, and put on a linen robe to beguile him.	8 For their mighty one did not fall by young men, neither did the sons of Titan strike him, nor tall giants oppose themselves to him, but Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her face.
9 Her sandals caught his eyes, and her beauty captivated his mind. The sword cut through his neck.	9 For she put off her the garments of widowhood, and put on her the garments of joy, to give joy to the children of Israel.
10 "The Persians were dismayed at her daring, the Medes appalled at her boldness.	10 She anointed her face with ointment, and bound up her locks with a crown, she took a new robe to deceive him.
11 When my lowly ones shouted, they were terrified; when my weaklings cried out, they trembled; at the sound of their war cry, they took to flight.	11 Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty made his soul her captive, with a sword she cut off his head.
12 Sons of slave girls pierced them through; the supposed sons of rebel mothers cut them down; they perished before the ranks of my Lord.	12 The Persians quaked at her constancy, and the Medes at her boldness.
13 "A new hymn I will sing to my God. O Lord, great are you and glorious, wonderful in power and unsurpassable.	13 Then the camp of the Assyrians howled, when my lowly ones appeared, parched with thirst.
14 Let your every creature serve you; for you spoke, and they were made, You sent forth your spirit, and they were created; no one can resist your word.	14 The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and they have killed them like children fleeing away: they perished in battle before the face of the Lord my God.
15 The mountains to their bases, and the seas, are shaken; the rocks, like wax, melt before your glance. "But to those who fear you, you are very merciful.	15 Let us sing a hymn to the Lord, let us sing a new hymn to our God.
16 Though the sweet odor of every sacrifice is a trifle, and the fat of all holocausts but little in your sight, one who fears the Lord is forever great.	16 O Adonai, Lord, great art thou, and glorious in thy power, and no one can overcome thee.
17 "Woe to the nations that rise against my people! the Lord Almighty will requite them; in the day of judgment he will punish them: He will send fire and worms into their flesh, and they shall burn and suffer forever."	17 Let all thy creatures serve thee: because thou hast spoken, and they were made: thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were created, and there is no one that can resist thy voice.
18 The people then went to Jerusalem to worship God; when they were purified, they offered their holocausts, freewill offerings, and gifts.	18 The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the waters: the rooks shall melt as wax before thy face.
19 Judith dedicated, as a votive offering to God, all the things of Holofernes that the people had given her, as well as the canopy that she herself had taken from his bedroom.	19 But they that fear thee, shall be great with thee in all things.
20 For three months the people continued their celebration in Jerusalem before the sanctuary, and Judith remained with them.	20 Woe be to the nation that riseth up against my people: for the Lord almighty will take revenge on them, in the day of judgment he will visit them.
21 When those days were over, each one returned to his inheritance. Judith went back to Bethulia and remained on her estate. For the rest of her life she was renowned throughout the land.	21 For he will give fire, and worms into their flesh, that they may burn, and may feel for ever.
22 Many wished to marry her, but she gave herself to no man all the days of her life from the time of the death and burial of her husband, Manasseh.	22 And it came to pass after these things, that all the people, after the victory, came to Jerusalem to adore the Lord: and as soon as they were purified, they all offered holocausts, and vows, and their promises.
23 She lived to be very old in the house of her husband, reaching the advanced age of a hundred and five. She died in Bethulia, where they buried her in the tomb of her husband, Manasseh;	23 And Judith offered for an anathema of oblivion all the arms of Holofernes, which the people gave her, and the canopy that she had taken away out of his chamber.
24 and the house of Israel mourned her for seven days. Before she died, she distributed her goods to the relatives of her husband, Manasseh, and to her own relatives; and to the maid she gave her freedom.	24 And the people were joyful in the sight of the sanctuary, and for three months the joy of this victory was celebrated with Judith.
25 During the life of Judith and for a long time after her death, no one again disturbed the Israelites.	25 And after those days every man returned to his house, and Judith was made great in Bethulia, and she was most renowned in all the land of Israel.
	26 And chastity was joined to her virtue, so that she knew no man all the days of her life, after the death of Manasses her husband.
	27 And on festival days she came forth with great glory.
	28 And she abode in her husband's house a hundred and five years, and made her handmaid free, and she died, and was buried with her husband in Bethulia.
	29 And all the people mourned for seven days.
	30 And all the time of her life there was none that troubled Israel, nor many years after her death.
	31 But the day of the festivity of this victory is received by the Hebrews in the number of holy days, and is religiously observed by the Jews from that time until this day.