Judith 9

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Judith threw herself face to the ground, scattered ashes on her head, undressed as far as the sackclothshe was wearing and cried loudly to the Lord. At the same time in Jerusalem the evening incense was beingoffered in the Temple of God. Judith said:	1 And when they were gone, Judith went into her oratory: and putting on haircloth, laid ashes on her head: and falling down prostrate before the Lord, she cried to the Lord, saying:
2 Lord, God of my ancestor Simeon, you armed him with a sword to take vengeance on the foreigners whohad undone a virgin's belt to her shame, laid bare her thigh to her confusion, violated her womb to herdishonour, since, though you said, 'This must not be,' they did it.	2 O Lord God of my father Simeon, who gavest him a sword to execute vengeance against strangers, who had defiled by their uncleanness, and uncovered the virgin unto confusion:
3 For this you handed their leaders over to slaughter, and their bed, defiled by their treachery, was itselfbetrayed in blood. You struck the slaves with the chieftains and the chieftains with their retainers.	3 And who gavest their wives to he made a prey, and their daughters into captivity: and all their spoils to be divided to thy servants, who were zealous with thy zeal: assist, I beseech thee, O Lord God, me a widow.
4 You left their wives to be carried off, their daughters to be taken captive, and their spoils to be shared outamong the sons you loved, who had been so zealous for you, had loathed the stain put on their blood and cal edon you for help. O God, my God, now hear this widow too;	4 For thou hast done the things of old, and hast devised one thing after another: and what thou hast designed hath been done.
5 for you have made the past, and what is happening now, and what will fol ow. What is, what wil be, youhave planned; what has been, you designed.	5 For all thy ways are prepared, and in thy providence thou hast placed thy judgments.
6 Your purposes stood forward; 'See, here we are!' they said. For al your ways are prepared and yourjudgements delivered with foreknowledge.	6 Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, as thou wast pleased to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when they pursued armed after thy servants, trusting in their chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors.
7 See the Assyrians, with their army abounding glorying in their horses and their riders, exulting in thestrength of their infantry. Trust as they may in shield and spear, in bow and sling, in you they have notrecognised the Lord, the breaker of battle-lines;	7 But thou lookedst over their camp, and darkness wearied them.
8 yours alone is the title of Lord. Break their violence with your might, in your anger bring down theirstrength. For they plan to profane your holy places, to defile the tabernacle, the resting place of your gloriousname, and to hack down the horn of your altar.	8 The deep held their feet, and the waters overwhelmed them.
9 Observe their arrogance, send your fury on their heads, give the strength I have in mind to this widow'shand.	9 So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and glory in their spears,
10 By guile of my lips strike down slave with master, and master with retainer. Break their pride by awoman's hand.	10 And know not that thou art our God, who destroyest wars from the beginning, and the Lord is thy name.
11 Your strength does not lie in numbers, nor your might in strong men; since you are the God of thehumble, the help of the oppressed, the support of the weak, the refuge of the forsaken, the Saviour of thedespairing.	11 Lift up thy arm as from the beginning, and crush their power with thy power: let their power fall in their wrath, who promise themselves to violate thy sanctuary, and defile the dwelling place of thy name, and to beat down with their sword the horn of thy altar.
12 Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Master of heaven and earth, Creator ofthe waters, King of your whole creation, hear my prayer.	12 Bring to pass, O Lord, that his pride may be cut off with his own sword.
13 Give me a beguiling tongue to wound and kill those who have formed such cruel designs against yourcovenant, against your holy dwelling-place, against Mount Zion, against the house belonging to your sons.	13 Let him be caught in the net of his own eyes in my regard, and do thou strike him by the graces of the words of my lips.
14 And demonstrate to every nation, every tribe, that you are the Lord, God of al power, al might, and thatthe race of Israel has no protector but you.	14 Give me constancy in my mind, that I may despise him: and fortitude that I may overthrow him.
	15 For this will be a glorious monument for thy name, when he shall fall by the hand of a woman.
	16 For thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is thy pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee.
	17 O God of the heavens, creator of the waters, and Lord of the whole creation, hear me a poor wretch, making supplication to thee, and presuming of thy mercy.
	18 Remember, O Lord, thy covenant, and put thou words in my mouth, and strengthen the resolution in my heart, that thy house may continue in thy holiness:
	19 And all nations may acknowledge that thou art God, and there is no other besides thee.