Judith 11

¹ 'Courage, woman,' Holofernes said, 'do not be afraid. I have never hurt anyone who chose to serveNebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world.

² Even now, if your nation of mountain dwellers had not insulted me, I would not have raised a spearagainst them. This was their fault, not mine.

³ But tell me, why have you fled from them and come to us? . . . Anyhow, this wil prove the saving of you. Courage! You wil live through this night, and many after.

⁴ No one wil hurt you. On the contrary, you wil be treated as wel as any who serve my lord KingNebuchadnezzar.'

⁵ Judith said, 'Please listen favourably to what your slave has to say. Permit your servant to speak inyour presence, I shal speak no word of a lie to my lord tonight.

⁶ You have only to fol ow your servant's advice and God will bring your work to a successful conclusion;in what my lord undertakes he wil not fail.

⁷ Long life to Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world, who has sent you to set every living soul torights; may his power endure! Since, thanks to you, he is served not only by human beings, but because of yourmight the wild animals themselves, the cattle, and the birds of the air are to live in the service ofNebuchadnezzar and his whole House.

⁸ 'We have indeed heard of your genius and adroitness of mind. It is known everywhere in the world thatthroughout the empire you have no rival for ability, wealth of experience and brilliance in waging war.

⁹ We have also heard what Achior said in his speech to your council. The men of Bethulia having sparedhim, he has told them everything that he said to you.

¹⁰ Now, master and lord, do not disregard what he said; keep it in your mind, since it is true; our nationwil not be punished, the sword wil indeed have no power over them, unless they sin against their God.

¹¹ But as it is, my lord need expect no repulse or setback, since death is about to fal on their heads, forsin has gained a hold over them, provoking the anger of their God each time that they commit it.

¹² As they are short of food and their water is giving out, they have resolved to fall back on their cattleand decided to make use of al the things that God has, by his laws, forbidden them to eat.

¹³ Not only have they made up their minds to eat the first-fruits of corn and the tithes of wine and oil,though these have been consecrated by them and set apart for the priests who serve in Jerusalem in thepresence of our God, and may not lawfully even be handled by ordinary people,

¹⁴ but they have sent men to Jerusalem -- where the inhabitants are doing much the same -- to bringthem back authorisation from the Council of Elders.

¹⁵ Now this wil be the outcome: when the permission arrives and they act on it, that very day they wil bedelivered over to you for destruction.

¹⁶ 'When I, your servant, came to know al this, I fled from them. God has sent me to do things with youat which the world wil be astonished when it hears.

¹⁷ Your servant is a devout woman; she honours the God of heaven day and night. I therefore propose,my lord, to stay with you. I, your servant, shal go out every night into the val ey and pray to God to let me knowwhen they have committed their sin.

¹⁸ I shal then come and tel you, so that you can march out with your whole army; and none of them wilbe able to resist you.

¹⁹ I shal be your guide right across Judaea until you reach Jerusalem; there I shall enthrone you in thevery middle of the city. And then you can round them up like shepherd-less sheep, with never a dog daring tobark at you. Foreknowledge tel s me this; this has been foretold to me and I have been sent to reveal it to you.'

²⁰ Her words pleased Holofernes, and all his adjutants. Ful of admiration at her wisdom they exclaimed,

²¹ 'There is no woman like her from one end of the earth to the other, so lovely of face and so wise ofspeech!'

²² Holofernes said, 'God has done wel to send you ahead of the others. Strength will be ours, and ruintheirs who have insulted my lord.

²³ As for you, you are as beautiful as you are eloquent; if you do as you have promised, your God shallbe my God, and you yourself shal make your home in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be famousthroughout the world.'