Judith 16

¹ Then Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel, and all the people loudly sang this song of praise.

² And Judith said, Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm; exalt him, and call upon his name.

³ For God is the Lord who crushes wars; for he has delivered me out of the hands of my pursuers, and brought me to his camp, in the midst of the people.

⁴ The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north; he came with myriads of his warriors; their multitude blocked up the valleys, their cavalry covered the hills.

⁵ He boasted that he would burn up my territory, and kill my young men with the sword, and dash my infants to the ground and seize my children as prey, and take my virgins as booty.

⁶ But the Lord Almighty has foiled them by the hand of a woman.

⁷ For their mighty one did not fall by the hands of the young men, nor did the sons of the Titans smite him, nor did tall giants set upon him; but Judith the daughter of Merari undid him with the beauty of her countenance.

⁸ For she took off her widow's mourning to exalt the oppressed in Israel. She anointed her face with ointment and fastened her hair with a tiara and put on a linen gown to deceive him.

⁹ Her sandal ravished his eyes, her beauty captivated his mind, and the sword severed his neck.

¹⁰ The Persians trembled at her boldness, the Medes were daunted at her daring.

¹¹ Then my oppressed people shouted for joy; my weak people shouted and the enemy trembled; they lifted up their voices, and the enemy were turned back.

¹² The sons of maidservants have pierced them through; they were wounded like the children of fugitives, they perished before the army of my Lord.

¹³ I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, thou are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible.

¹⁴ Let all thy creatures serve thee, for thou didst speak, and they were made. Thou didst send forth thy Spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist thy voice.

¹⁵ For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters; at thy presence the rocks shall melt like wax, but to those who fear thee thou wilt continue to show mercy.

¹⁶ For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing, and all fat for burnt offerings to thee is a very little thing, but he who fears the Lord shall be great for ever.

¹⁷ Woe to the nations that rise up against my people! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment; fire and worms he will give to their flesh; they shall weep in pain for ever.

¹⁸ When they arrived at Jerusalem they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts.

¹⁹ Judith also dedicated to God all the vessels of Holofernes, which the people had given her; and the canopy which she took for herself from his bedchamber she gave as a votive offering to the Lord.

²⁰ So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for three months, and Judith remained with them.

²¹ After this every one returned home to his own inheritance, and Judith went to Bethulia, and remained on her estate, and was honored in her time throughout the whole country.

²² Many desired to marry her, but she remained a widow all the days of her life after Manasseh her husband died and was gathered to his people.

²³ She became more and more famous, and grew old in her husband's house, until she was one hundred and five years old. She set her maid free. She died in Bethulia, and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh,

²⁴ and the house of Israel mourned for her seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her husband Manasseh, and to her own nearest kindred.

²⁵ And no one ever again spread terror among the people of Israel in the days of Judith, or for a long time after her death.