Judith · Catholic Public Domain Version
Judith 9 Catholic Public Domain Version
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
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 But Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes upon her head, and uncovered the sackcloth with which she was clothed. The incense of that evening was now being offered at Jerusalem in the house of God, and Judith cried 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, into whose hand you gave a sword to take vengeance on the strangers who loosened the belt of a virgin to defile her, uncovered her thigh to her shame, and profaned her womb to her reproach; for you said, ‘It shall not be so;’ and they did so.
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 Therefore you gave their rulers to be slain, and their bed, which was ashamed for her who was deceived, to be dyed in blood, and struck the servants with their masters, and the masters upon 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 gave their wives for a prey, and their daughters to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided among your dear children; which were moved with zeal for you, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called upon you for aid. O God, O my God, hear me also who am a widow.
5 For all your ways have been prepared, and you have placed your judgments within your providence.
5 For you did the things that were before those things, and those things, and such as come after; and you planned the things which are now, and the things which are to come. The things which you planned 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 Yes, the things which you determined stood before you, and said, ‘Behold, we are here; for all your ways are prepared, and your judgment is with foreknowledge.’
7 But you gazed upon their camp, and darkness wearied them.
7 For, behold, the Assyrians are multiplied in their power. They are exalted with horse and rider. They were proud of the strength of their footmen. They have trusted in shield, spear, bow, and sling. They don’t know that you are the Lord who breaks the battles. ‘The Lord’ is your name.
8 The abyss took hold of their feet, and the waters covered them.
8 Break their strength in your power, and bring down their force in your wrath; for they intend to profane your sanctuary, and to defile the tabernacle where your glorious name rests, and to destroy the horn of your 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 Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give into my hand, which am a widow, the might that I have conceived.
10 And they do not know that you are our God, who crushes wars from the beginning, and the Lord is your name.
10 Strike by the deceit of my lips the servant with the prince, and the prince with his servant. Break down 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 your power stands not in numbers, nor your might in strong men, but you are a God of the afflicted. You are a helper of the oppressed, a helper of the weak, a protector of the forsaken, a savior of those who are without hope.
12 Act, O Lord, so that his arrogance may be cut off with his own sword.
12 Please, please, God of my father, and God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of the heavens and of the earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your 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 speech and deceit to be their wound and bruise, who intend hard things against your covenant, your holy house, the top of Zion, and the house of the possession of your 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 Make every nation and tribe of yours to know that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the race of Israel but you.”
15 For this will be a memorial to your name, when he will be overthrown by the hand of a woman.
15 Not in this translation
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.
16 Not in this translation
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.
17 Not in this translation
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,
18 Not in this translation
19 and so that all the nations may acknowledge that you are God, and there is no other beside you.”
19 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
So as Judith says, "Thou hast thought, and what things thou didst determine were ready at hand." On the other hand, and lest we should ever be drawn away by the greatness of the works wrought to imagine that the Lord is without beginning, what saith the Self-Existent?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)