The Book of Judith

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 10 -

Judith goes out towards the camp, and is taken, and brought to Holofernes.

And it came to pass, when she had ceased to cry to the Lord, that she rose from the place wherein she lay prostrate before the Lord.

And she called her maid, and going down into her house she took off her haircloth, and put away the garments of her widowhood,

And she washed her body, and anointed herself with the best ointment, and plaited the hair of her head, and put a bonnet upon her head, and clothed herself with the garments of her gladness, and put sandals on her feet, and took her bracelets, and lilies, and earlets, and rings, and adorned herself with all her ornaments.

And the Lord also gave her more beauty: because all this dressing up did not proceed from sensuality, lent from virtue: and therefore the Lord increased this her beauty, so that she appeared to all men’s eyes incomparably lovely.

And she gave to her maid a bottle of wine to carry, and a vessel of oil, and parched corn, and dry figs, and bread and cheese, and went out.

And when they came to the gate of the city, they found Ozias, and the ancients of the city waiting.

And when they saw her they were astonished, and admired her beauty exceedingly.

But they asked her no question, only they let her pass, saying: The God of our fathers give thee grace, and may he strengthen all the counsel of thy heart with his power, that Jerusalem may glory in thee, and thy name may be in the number of the holy and just.

And they that were there said, all with one voice: So be it, so be it.

But Judith praying to the Lord, passed through the gates, she and her maid.

And it came to pass, when she went down the hill, about break of day, that the watchmen of the Assyrians met her and stopped her, saying: Whence comest thou? or whither goest thou?

And she answered: I am a daughter of the Hebrews, and I am fled from them, because I knew they would be made a prey to you, because they despised you, and would not of their own accord yield themselves, that they might find mercy in your sight.

For this reason I thought with myself, saying: I will go to the presence of the prince Holofernes, that I may tell him their secrets, and shew him by what way he may take them, without the loss of one man of his army.

And when the men had heard her words, they beheld her face, and their eyes were amazed, for they wondered exceedingly at her beauty.

And they said to her: Thou hast saved thy life by taking this resolution, to come down to our lord.

And be assured of this, that when thou shalt stand before him, he will treat thee well, and thou wilt be most acceptable to his heart. And they brought her to the tent of Holofernes, telling him of her.

And when she was come into his presence, forthwith Holofernes was caught by his eyes.

And his officers said to him: Who can despise the people of the Hebrews who have such beautiful women, that we should not think it worth our while for their sakes to fight against them?

And Judith seeing Holofernes sitting under a canopy, which was woven of purple and gold, with emeralds and precious stones:

After she had looked on his face bowed down to him, prostrating herself to the ground. And the servants of Holofernes lifted her up, by the command of their master.

Judith goes out towards the camp, and is taken, and brought to Holofernes.

It came to pass, when she had ceased to cry to the God of Israel, and had finished saying all these words,

that she rose up where she had fallen down, called her maid, and went down into the house that she lived on the Sabbath days and on her feast days.

She pulled off the sackcloth which she had put on, took off the garments of her widowhood, washed her body all over with water, anointed herself with rich ointment, braided the hair of her head, and put a tiara upon it. She put on her garments of gladness, which she used to wear in the days of the life of Manasses her husband.

She took sandals for her feet, and put on her anklet, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her jewelry. She made herself very beautiful to deceive the eyes of all men who would see her.

She gave her maid a leather container of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with roasted grain, lumps of figs, and fine bread. She packed all her vessels together, and laid them upon her.

They went out to the gate of the city of Bethulia, and found Ozias and the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmis standing by it.

But when they saw her, that her countenance was altered and her apparel was changed, they were greatly astonished by her beauty and said to her,

“May the God of our fathers give you favor, and accomplish your purposes to the glory of the children of Israel, and to the exaltation of Jerusalem.” Then she worshiped God,

and said to them, “Command that they open the gate of the city for me, and I will go out to accomplish the things you spoke with me about.” And they commanded the young men to open to her, as she had spoken;

and they did so. Then Judith went out, she, and her handmaid with her. The men of the city watched her until she had gone down the mountain, until she had passed the valley, and they could see her no more.

They went straight onward in the valley. The watch of the Assyrians met her;

and they took her, and asked her, “Of what people are you? Where are you coming from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am a daughter of the Hebrews. I am fleeing away from their presence, because they are about to be given you to be consumed.

I am coming into the presence of Holofernes the chief captain of your army, to declare words of truth. I will show him a way that he can go and win all the hill country, and there will not be lacking of his men one person, nor one life.”

Now when the men heard her words, and considered her countenance, the beauty thereof was exceedingly marvelous in their eyes. They said to her,

“You have saved your life, in that you have hurried to come down to the presence of our master. Now come to his tent. Some of us will guide you until they deliver you into his hands.

But when(a) you stand before him, don’t be afraid in your heart, but declare to him what you just said, and he will treat you well.”

They chose out of them a hundred men, and appointed them to accompany her and her maid; and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes.

And there was great excitement throughout all the camp, for her coming was reported among the tents. They came and surrounded her as she stood outside Holofernes’ tent, until they told him about her.

They marveled at her beauty, and marveled at the children of Israel because of her. Each one said to his neighbor, “Who would despise these people, who have among them such women? For it is not good that one man of them be left, seeing that, if they are let go, they will be able to deceive the whole earth.

Then the guards of Holofernes and all his servants came out and brought her into the tent.

And Holofernes was resting upon his bed under the canopy, which was woven with purple, gold, emeralds, and precious stones.

And they told him about her; and he came out into the space before his tent, with silver lamps going before him.

But when Judith had come before him and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her countenance. She fell down upon her face and bowed down to him, but his servants raised her up.

Footnotes

(a)10:16 Gr. if.