Judith 9

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 And when they were gone, Judith entered her place of prayer. And clothing herself with haircloth, she placed ashes on her head. And prostrating herself to the Lord, she cried out to the Lord, saying:	1 Then Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing; and at the very time when that evening's incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said,
2 “O Lord, God of my father Simeon, you gave him a sword to defend against foreigners, who stood out as violators by their defilement, and who uncovered the thigh of the virgin unto shame.	2 "O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take revenge on the strangers who had loosed the girdle of a virgin to defile her, and uncovered her thigh to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for thou hast said, 'It shall not be done'--yet they did it.
3 And you gave their wives into plunder, and their daughters into captivity, and all their spoils to be divided to the servants, who were zealous with your zeal. Bring help, I ask you, O Lord my God, to me, a widow.	3 So thou gavest up their rulers to be slain, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, to be stained with blood, and thou didst strike down slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones;
4 For you have acted in the past, and you have decided one thing after another. And what you have willed, this too has happened.	4 and thou gavest their wives for a prey and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among thy beloved sons, who were zealous for thee, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called on thee for help--O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.
5 For all your ways have been prepared, and you have placed your judgments within your providence.	5 "For thou hast done these things and those that went before and those that followed; thou hast designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. Yea, the things thou didst intend came to pass,
6 Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, just as you deigned to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when their weapons rushed after your servants, trusting in their four-horse chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors.	6 and the things thou didst will presented themselves and said, 'Lo, we are here'; for all they ways are prepared in advance, and thy judgment is with foreknowledge.
7 But you gazed upon their camp, and darkness wearied them.	7 "Behold now, the Assyrians are increased in their might; they are exalted, with their horses and riders; they glory in the strength of their foot soldiers; they trust in shield and spear, in bow and sling, and know not that thou art the Lord who crushest wars; the Lord is thy name.
8 The abyss took hold of their feet, and the waters covered them.	8 Break their strength by thy might, and bring down their power in thy anger; for they intend to defile thy sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where thy glorious name rests, and to cast down the horn of thy altar with the sword.
9 So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their swift chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and the glory in their lances.	9 Behold their pride, and send thy wrath upon their heads; give to me, a widow, the strength to do what I plan.
10 And they do not know that you are our God, who crushes wars from the beginning, and the Lord is your name.	10 By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman.
11 Raise up your arm, just as from the beginning, and throw down their power by your power. Let their power fall, in their anger, for they promise themselves to violate your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle of your name, and to cut down by their sword the horn of your altar.	11 "For thy power depends not upon numbers, nor thy might upon men of strength; for thou art God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forlorn, savior of those without hope.
12 Act, O Lord, so that his arrogance may be cut off with his own sword.	12 Hear, O hear me, God of my father, God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all thy creation, hear my prayer!
13 Let him be seized by the snare of his own eyes in my regard, and may you strike him by the attraction of my lips.	13 Make my deceitful words to be their wound and stripe, for they have planned cruel things against thy covenant, and against thy consecrated house, and against the top of Zion, and against the house possessed by thy children.
14 Give me constancy in my soul, so that I may hold him in contempt, and give me virtue, so that I may overthrow him.	14 And cause thy whole nation and every tribe to know and understand that thou art God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but thou alone!"
15 For this will be a memorial to your name, when he will be overthrown by the hand of a woman.
16 For your power, O Lord, is not in numbers, nor is your will with the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the arrogant been pleasing to you. But the pleas of the humble and the meek have always pleased you.
17 O God of the heavens, Creator of the waters, and Lord of all creation, heed me, a miserable thing, pleading you and depending on your mercy.
18 Remember, O Lord, your covenant, and put your words in my mouth, and reinforce the plan in my heart, so that your house may continue with your sanctification,
19 and so that all the nations may acknowledge that you are God, and there is no other beside you.”