Judith 14

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
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 brothers. Take this head and hang it on 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 At daybreak, when the sun rises on the earth, let each of you seize his weapons, and let all the able-bodied men rush out of the city under command of a captain, as if about to go down into the plain against the advance guard of the Assyrians, but without going down.
3 Then the scouts will have to hurry to awaken their leader for the fight.	3 They will seize their armor and hurry to their camp to awaken the generals of the Assyrian army. When they run to the tent of Holofernes and do not find him, panic will seize 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 Then you and all the other inhabitants of the whole territory of Israel will pursue them and strike them down in their tracks.
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 doing this, summon for me Achior the Ammonite, that he may see and recognize the one who despised the house of Israel and sent him here to meet 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 called Achior from the house of Uzziah. When he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hand of one of the men in the assembly of the people, he fell forward in a faint.
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 Then, after they lifted him up, he threw himself at the feet of Judith in homage, saying: "Blessed are you in every tent of Judah; and in every foreign nation, all who hear of you will be struck with terror.
8 When the scouts saw this, they rushed to the tent of Holofernes.	8 But now, tell me all that you did during these days." So Judith told him, in the presence of the people, all that she had been doing from the day she left till the time she began 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 When she finished her account, the people cheered loudly, and their city resounded with shouts of joy.
10 For no one dared to knock, or to open and enter, the bedchamber of the powerful leader of the Assyrians.	10 Now Achior, seeing all that the God of Israel had done, believed firmly in him. He had the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, and he has been united with the house of Israel to the present 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 At daybreak they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall. Then all the Israelite men took up their arms and went to the slopes of the mountain.
12 “Enter and awaken him, for the mice have come out of their holes, intending to challenge us to fight.”	12 When the Assyrians saw them, they notified their captains; these, in turn, went to the generals and division leaders and all their other commanders.
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 They came to the tent of Holofernes and said to the one in charge of all his things, "Waken our master, for the slaves have dared come down to give us battle, to their utter destruction."
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 Bagoas went in, and knocked at the entry of the tent, presuming 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 As no one answered, he parted the curtains, entered the bedroom, and found him lying on the floor, a headless corpse.
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 He broke into a loud clamor of weeping, groaning, and howling, 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 entered the tent where Judith had her quarters; and, not finding her, he rushed out to the troops and cried:
18 And there was an unprecedented outcry in the midst of their camp.	18 "The slaves have duped us! A single Hebrew woman has brought disgrace on the house of King Nebuchadnezzar. Here is Holofernes headless on the ground!"
	19 When the commanders of the Assyrian army heard these words, they rent their tunics and were seized with consternation. Loud screaming and howling arose in the camp.