A Song of Praise

¹This is Judith’s song:

Sing to my God with tambourines.

Sing to my Lord with cymbals.

Lift up to him a psalm of praise.

Exalt him and call upon his name.

²For the Lord is a God who crushes warfare.

He set up his camp in the midst of his people;

he rescued me from the hands of my oppressors.

³Assyria came down from the mountains of the north.

They came with many thousands of warriors.

Their soldiers filled the valleys.

Their horsemen covered the hills.

⁴They boasted that they would set my land on fire,

kill my young men with the sword,

throw my infants to the ground,

seize my children as prizes of war,

and take my virgins as captives.

⁵But the Lord Almighty has defeated them

by the hand of a woman.

⁶Their mighty leader was not struck down by young men,

nor did the sons of the Titans bring him down,

nor did tall giants put him away.

It was Judith, daughter of Merari,

who disarmed him with her beauty.

⁷She put away her widow’s clothing

to rescue the oppressed in Israel.

She put on sweet perfume

⁸and fastened her hair with a tiara.

She put on a linen gown to seduce him,

⁹and a glimpse of her sandal aroused him.

Her beauty captivated his soul,

but the sword severed his neck!

¹⁰The Persians trembled at her boldness,

the Medes were stunned by her daring.

¹¹Then my oppressed people shouted a war cry.

My weak people cried out, and the enemy trembled;

they raised their voices, and the enemy turned back.

¹²Sons of slave girls pierced the enemy

and wounded them like deserters.

They perished before the army of my Lord.

¹³I will sing a new song to my God:

O Lord, you are great and glorious,

wonderfully strong, invincible.

¹⁴May all your creatures serve you,

for when you spoke, they came into being.

You sent your breath, and it formed them;

no one can resist your voice.

¹⁵The mountains and oceans will shake in your presence,

and rocks will melt like wax before you,

but to those who fear you,

you show mercy.

¹⁶Sweet-smelling sacrifices are a small thing to you.

The fat of whole burnt offerings means little to you.

But those who fear the Lord are great forever.

¹⁷Destruction is certain for the nations that rise up against my people!

The Lord Almighty will punish them in the day of judgment.

He will send fire and worms into their flesh,

and they will cry in pain forever.

¹⁸Eventually the entire group arrived at Jerusalem, where they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered burnt offerings, freewill offerings, and gifts.

¹⁹Judith dedicated to God all the possessions of Holofernes she had been given, and she gave the canopy from his sleeping quarters as an offering to fulfill a vow.

²⁰For three months the people enjoyed the festivities in Jerusalem before the Temple. And Judith was with them the whole time.

Conclusion

²¹After these events, the people all went home. Judith returned to Bethulia and lived on her estate, and she was esteemed throughout the country for the rest of her life.

²²Many men wanted to marry her, but she never gave herself to another man after the death of her husband, Manasseh.

²³She became more and more famous through the years. She grew old in her husband’s house, reaching the age of 105. She set her maid free, and then she died in Bethulia. She was buried in a cave beside her husband, Manasseh,

²⁴and all Israel mourned for seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all of her relatives and to Manasseh’s relatives.

²⁵No one troubled the Israelites during Judith’s lifetime or for a long time afterward.