Judith 14

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 Then Judith said to all the people: “Hear me, brothers. Suspend this head over our walls.	1 Then Judith said to them, "Listen to me, my brethren, and take this head and hang it upon the parapet of your wall.
2 And, as soon as the sun rises, let everyone take up his weapons and go out to attack, not going down all the way, but only to seem as if making an assault.	2 And as soon as morning comes and the sun rises, let every valiant man take his weapons and go out of the city, and set a captain over them, as if you were going down to the plain against the Assyrian outpost; only do not go down.
3 Then the scouts will have to hurry to awaken their leader for the fight.	3 Then they will seize their arms and go into the camp and rouse the officers of the Assyrian army; and they will rush into the tent of Holofernes, and will not find him. Then fear will come over them, and they will flee before you,
4 And when their commanders rush into the tabernacle of Holofernes, and they find his headless body wallowing in his blood, fear will fall over them.	4 and you and all who live within the borders of Israel shall pursue them and cut them down as they flee.
5 And when you realize that they are fleeing, go after them in security, for the Lord will crush them under your feet.”	5 But before you do all this, bring Achior the Ammonite to me, and let him see and recognize the man who despised the house of Israel and sent him to us as if to his death."
6 Then Achior, seeing the power that the God of Israel had wrought, left behind the rituals of the Gentiles. He believed in God, and he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and he was placed among the people of Israel, and so were all the succession of his kindred, even until this present day.	6 So they summoned Achior from the house of Uzziah. And when he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hand of one of the men at the gathering of the people, he fell down on his face and his spirit failed him.
7 And soon, at the rising of day, they suspended the head of Holofernes above the walls, and every man took up his weapons, and they went out with a great uproar and howling.	7 And when they raised him up he fell at Judith's feet, and knelt before her, and said, "Blessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation those who hear your name will be alarmed.
8 When the scouts saw this, they rushed to the tent of Holofernes.	8 Now tell me what you have done during these days." Then Judith described to him in the presence of the people all that she had done, from the day she left until the moment of her speaking to them.
9 Moreover, those who were in the tent came and made a loud noise before the entrance to the bedchamber, hoping to awaken him by an attempt at skillful noise-making, not by intruding on him, so that Holofernes might be roused from sleep.	9 And when she had finished, the people raised a great shout and made a joyful noise in their city.
10 For no one dared to knock, or to open and enter, the bedchamber of the powerful leader of the Assyrians.	10 And when Achior saw all that the God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God, and was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this day.
11 But when his commanders and tribunes had arrived, with all the chiefs of the army of the king of the Assyrians, they said to the chamberlains:	11 As soon as it was dawn they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall, and every man took his weapons, and they went out in companies to the passes in the mountains.
12 “Enter and awaken him, for the mice have come out of their holes, intending to challenge us to fight.”	12 And when the Assyrians saw them they sent word to their commanders, and they went to the generals and the captains and to all their officers.
13 Then Vagao, entering his bedchamber, stood before the curtain, and he made a clapping noise with his hands. For he suspected that he was sleeping with Judith.	13 So they came to Holofernes' tent and said to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, "Wake up our lord, for the slaves have been so bold as to come down against us to give battle, in order to be destroyed completely."
14 But when, with attentiveness, he perceived no motion of anyone reclining, he approached the curtain. And lifting it up, he saw the dead body of Holofernes, without a head, lying on the ground, soaked in his own blood. He cried out with a loud voice and weeping, and he tore his garments.	14 So Bagoas went in and knocked at the door of the tent, for he supposed that he was sleeping with Judith.
15 And he entered the tent of Judith and did not find her. And he ran out to the people,	15 But when no one answered, he opened it and went into the bedchamber and found him thrown down on the platform dead, with his head cut off and missing.
16 and he said: “One Hebrew woman has caused confusion in the house of Nebuchadnezzar the king. For behold, Holofernes lies on the ground, and his head is not with him.”	16 And he cried out with a loud voice and wept and groaned and shouted, and rent his garments.
17 Now when the leaders of the army of the Assyrians had heard this, they all tore their garments, and an intolerable fear and trembling fell over them, and their minds were greatly disturbed.	17 Then he went to the tent where Judith had stayed, and when he did not find her he rushed out to the people and shouted,
18 And there was an unprecedented outcry in the midst of their camp.	18 "The slaves have tricked us! One Hebrew woman has brought disgrace upon the house of King Nebuchadnezzar! For look, here is Holofernes lying on the ground, and his head is not on him!"
	19 When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard this, they rent their tunics and were greatly dismayed, and their loud cries and shouts arose in the midst of the camp.