Book of Judith Reader

And the house of Israel lamented for her seven days. And before she died, she distributed her goods to all those who were the nearest kindred of Manasseh her husband and to those who were the nearest of her kindred.

And there was no one who made the children of Israel afraid again during the days of Judith, nor for a long time after her death.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of King Nebuchadnezzar who dwelt in Nineveh the Great City of God, that Arpachshad King of Media reigned in Achmata the Capital City, which is also called Ekbatana.

And he surrounded the city with walls of hewn stone, three cubits wide and six cubits high.

And the height of the walls were seventy cubits and the thickness thereof, fifty cubits.

And he made towers over the gates of the city, one hundred cubits high and their foundation was sixty cubits.

And the height of the gates he made were seventy cubits, and their width, forty cubits, to make space for the multitude of their hosts, to go out and array the charioteers with the infantry.

And it came to pass in those days, that Nebuchadnezzar made war with Arpachshad in the great plain which stretches unto the border of Reu.

And all of the inhabitants of the mountains and all of the people who were on the banks of the rivers Euphrates, Hidekel and Gihon and also Arioch King of Elam and many people of the Children of Gilead came to his aid.

And Nebuchadnezzar the King of Assyria sent emmisaries to call the inhabitants of Persia, and to all those who dwell in the west, which consisted of: Cilicia, Damascus, Lebanon, Carmel, Gilead, the Galilee and the Valley of Jezreel.

And the inhabitants of Samaria and her cities, and the nations on the other side of the Jordan unto Jerusalem, and all of the inhabitants of Goshen and the Land of Egypt unto the mountains of Kedar.

And all of the nations of those lands refused to hearken to the voice of the King of Assyria and they did not come to his aid in battle, for they were not afraid of him. And they rebuffed his ambassadors with disgrace and scorn to their land.

And the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar burned throughout all of these lands, and he swore on his throne and his kingdom to take vengeance on them, and to destroy all of the borders of Cilicia, Damascus and Aram.

And to slay by the sword all of the inhabitants of Ammon and Moab, and all of the land of Judah and Egypt and all who are between the two seas in middle.

And it came to pass in the seventeenth year of his reign, that he went forth with all of his host toward Arpachshad for battle, and his hand overcame, and he slew his people and his chariots and his horsemen by the sword.

And after he took all of the cities, he also came to Achmata, and he conquered the towers and made the streets of the city desolate, and all of its glory turned into waste.

And he was in hot pursuit of Arpachshad near the Mountains of Reu, and he shot him with his arrows and smote him.

And afterwards he returned with all of the soldiers of his host to Nineveh, and he dwelt there happy and of good cheer, and he made for them a feast for one hundred and twenty days.

And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of his reign, in the twenty second day of the first month, that he convened a council in the palace to take vengeance against all of these nations as he had spoken.

And the King called for all of his officers and his servants, and he told them his plan, and recounted to them the wickedness of all of these nations.

And it came to pass when they were all saying to wipe out and destroy all of the nations that did not hearken to the voice of the King, that the King called his General and Viceroy Holofernes, and he said to him:

So said Nebuchadnezzar the Great, King over all the land.

Make haste and select for yourself one hundred and twenty thousand Elite Infantry and twelve thousand Cavalry.

And go out to war against all of the lands that are from the sea unto my Kingdom, and who have not hearkened to my voice.

And you shall say to them: "Your lands and your seas are mine".

Behold I have gone forth with my anger and my wrath toward you, and have covered the appearance of your land with the multitude of my hosts, and I shall give it to them as spoil.

The valleys and the streams shall be full of your slain, and the rivers shall be fouled from the corpses of your dead, and I shall scatter the captives unto the outskirts of the Earth.

You shall go before me and burst forth over all the borders of their land. And it shall be, they will be subdued under your hand until the day of my visitation upon them.

And should they take a stand against you, than you shall obliterate them by the sword. Your eye should not take pity on them, and all of the land shall become plunder.

And now, by myself I have sworn, and by my Kingdom, that it is in my power to do as I have spoken.

Therefore hasten and do as I have commanded you, fulfill my commands to the letter, and verily do not delay!

And Holofernes departed from the presence of the King. And he informed all of the officers of the Army and all of the commanders of the Land of Aram. And he commanded the men of his Host, all of them them valiant warriors, as the King had commanded.

And their command was one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and twelve thousand horsemen equipped with bows.

And he arrayed them as was the custom, and they passed before him. There were innumerable amounts of camels and donkeys with them, carrying their baggage. Also an exceeding amount of flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

And also grain and provisions to sustain all of this great multitude, and an abundance of gold and silver from the treasury of the King.

And he traveled with this entire army; horse, chariot and rider before the Viceroy, and they covered the appearance of the land, and went towards the sea.

And also camp followers traveled with them like locusts and like sand over the face of the of the earth, which were innumerable.

And he traveled from Nineveh a journey of three days, until the plains of Bectileth and he encamped under the mountains to the north of Cilicia.

And from there he traveled with all of his camp, and his chariots and horsemen into the highlands.

And he overturned Put and Lud and destroyed all of the Children of Tarshish, and the Children of Ishmael who dwell at the edge of the desert, south of Cheleon.

And he crossed the Euphrates River and went to Padan Aram, and destroyed all the fortified cities from the Brook of Arnon unto the Sea.

And he conquered all of the borders of Cilicia, and all those who stood before him he slew by the sword. And he came to the mountains of Japheth which are opposite the land of Arabia.

And he surrounded all of the inhabitants of Midian, and set fire to their tents, and destroyed their pastureland.

And it came to pass at the time of the harvest, that he went down to Damascus and burned the standing grain of the city, and eradicated all of the sheep and cattle.

The city, they plundered and looted, and its fields, they destroyed. And every man of fighting age, they slew by the sword.

And his dread fell over all the inhabitants of the coastal region, upon the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, Acco and Jamnia.

And also the inhabitants of Ashdod and Ashkelon were afraid, and trembled before him.

And they sent envoys to him to sue for peace and they said:

Behold we have fallen before you to the ground, do with us as you see fit.

All that is ours is yours. Our farmsteads and cities, our cattle and sheep folds and our tents are before you, to do with as you please.

All of the cities and their inhabitants are given into your hands, please come to us and go down with us as you please.

And it came to pass when they spoke to him in these manner of words, that he went down with his army from the highlands towards them, toward the banks of the sea, and he placed a garrison in every fortified city, and the best of the people, he drafted as auxiliaries.

And all of the land all around went forth towards him with flutes and drums and dances.

But he destroyed all of the borders of the land and cut down their Asherah Poles.

For so he set out in his heart to wipe out all of the gods of the lands, in order that all of the peoples will bow down to Nebuchadnezzar, and every tongue will call his name.

From there he traveled towards Jezreel near Dothan, opposite the fortified mountains of Judah.

And he camped his encampment between Jogbehah and Ebel-Shittim, and he dwelt there a full month until all the forage was gathered to the camps.

Now the children of Israel, who lived in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians had done to the nations,

and in what way he had pillaged all their temples and brought them to nothing.

Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of him, and were troubled for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God.

For they were newly-returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea had only recently gathered together; and the vessels and the altar and the house had been sanctified after the profanation.

Therefore they sent into all the coasts of Samaria and the villages, and to Bethoron and Belmen and Jericho, and to Choba and Esora, and to the valley of Salem;

and they captured for themselves in advance all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages which were in them, and stored up food as provisions for war, for their fields had been recently reaped.

Also, Joacim the high priest, who was in those days in Jerusalem,

wrote to those who lived in Bethulia and Betomestham, which is opposite Esdraelon toward the open country near Dothaim,

charging them to hold the passages of the hill country;

for through them there was an entrance into Judea, and it was easy to stop those who would come up, because the passage was narrow, for two men at the most.

And the children of Israel did as Joacim the high priest had commanded them, with the elders of all the people of Israel, who lived at Jerusalem.

Then every man cried to God with great fervor, and they humbled their souls with great vehemence,

and both they and their wives and their children, and their cattle, and every stranger and hired hand, and their servants bought with money, put sackcloth on their loins.

Thus every man, and the women and little children, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the temple and cast ashes upon their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the face of the Lord; they also put sackcloth around the altar.

And they cried to the God of Israel, all with one consent earnestly, so that he would not give over their children as prey and their wives for a spoil and the cities of their inheritance to destruction and the sanctuary to profanation and reproach, for the nations to rejoice over them.

So God heard their prayers and looked upon their afflictions;

for the people fasted many days in all Judea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.

And Joacim the high priest, and all the priests who stood before the Lord and those who ministered to the Lord, had their loins dressed with sackcloth, and offered the daily burnt offerings with the vows and free gifts of the people, and had ashes on their liturgical headdresses; and they cried to the Lord with all their power, so that he would look upon all the house of Israel graciously.

Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur,

and had shut up the passages of the hill country and had fortified all the tops of the high hills and had laid impediments in the open plains.

Because of this, he was very angry, and he called all the princes of Moab and the captains of Ammon and all the governors of the sea coast,

and he said to them, "Tell me now, you sons of Canaan, who is this people, who dwell in the hill country, and which cities do they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their army, and wherein is their power and strength, and what king or captain of their army is set over them,

and why are they resolved not to come and meet me, more so than all the inhabitants of the west?"

Then Achior, the captain of all the sons of Ammon, said,

"Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant and I will declare to you the truth concerning this people, who dwell near you and inhabit the hill countries, and no lie will come out of the mouth of your servant.

This people is descended from the Chaldeans, and they resided temporarily and until recently in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of Chaldea.

For they left the way of their ancestors and worshipped the God of heaven, the God they knew; so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia and lodged there for many days.

Then their God commanded them to depart from the place where they lived and to go into the land of Canaan; there they lived and were increased with gold and silver and with very much cattle.

But when a famine covered all the land of Canaan, they went down into Egypt and lodged there; meanwhile they were nourished and became a great multitude there, so that one could not number their nation.

Therefore the king of Egypt rose up against them, and he dealt subtly with them and brought them low with labor in brick and made them slaves.

Then they cried to their God and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues, so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.

And God dried the Red Sea before them and brought them to mount Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea, and cast out all who lived in the wilderness. So they lived in the land of the Amorites, and by their strength they destroyed all those who were of Esebon,

and passing over the Jordan they possessed all the hill country. And they cast out before them the Canaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they lived in that country for many days.

While they did not sin before their God, they prospered, because the God who hates iniquity was with them.

But when they departed from the way which he appointed for them, they were destroyed in many battles very badly and were led captive into a land which was not their own,

and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies.

But now are they returned to their God and have returned from the places where they were scattered and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country, for it had been desolate.

Now therefore, my lord and governor, if there is any ignorance in this people and they sin against their God, let us consider that this will be their ruin, and let us go up and we will overcome them.

But if there is no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world.

And when Achior had finished these sayings, all the people standing around the tent murmured;

and the chief men of Holofernes, and all who lived by the seaside and in Moab, were saying that he should kill him.

For they said, "We will not be afraid of the faces of the children of Israel, for we see that they are a people who have no strength or power for a strong battle.

Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up and they will be a prey to be devoured by all your army."

And when the tumult of men who were around the council were quiet, Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, said to Achior and all the Moabites in front of all the company of the other nations:

And who are you, Achior and the hired hands of Ephraim, that you would prophesy against us as today and would say that we should not make war with the people of Israel because their God will defend them? And who is God but Nebuchadnezzar?

He will send his power and will destroy them from the face of the earth and their God will not deliver them;

but we, his servants, will destroy them as if they were one man; for they are not able to withstand the power of our horses.

For with them, we will tread them under foot, and their mountains will be drunken with their blood and their fields will be filled with their dead bodies and their footsteps will not be able to stand before us, for they will utterly perish,

as king Nebuchadnezzar, lord of all the earth, has said. And he said, 'None of my words will be in vain.'

And you, Achior, a hired hand of Ammon, who has spoken these words on the day of your iniquity, will see my face no more from this day forward, until I take vengeance on this nation which came out of Egypt.

And then the sword of my army and the multitude of those who serve me will pass through your sides, and you will fall among their slain, when I return.

Now therefore, my servants will bring you back into the hill country and will set you in one of the cities of the passages;

and you will not perish, until you are destroyed with them. And if you persuade yourself in your mind that they will be taken, do not let your countenance fall;

I have spoken it and none of my words will be in vain."

Then Holofernes commanded his servants, who served in his tent, to take Achior and bring him to Bethulia and deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.

So his servants took him and brought him out of the camp into the plain, and they went from the midst of the plain into the hill country, and they came to the fountains which were under Bethulia.

And when the men of the city saw them, they took up their weapons and went out of the city to the top of the hill, and every man who was armed with a sling kept them from coming up by casting stones against them.

Nevertheless, having gotten secretly under the hill, they bound Achior and threw him down, and they left him at the foot of the hill and returned to their lord.

But the Israelites descended from their city and came to him, and they freed him and brought him to Bethulia, and presented him to the governors of the city,

who were in those days Uzziah the son of Micah of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris the son of Gothoniel, and Charmis the son of Melchiel.

And they called together all the elders of the city, and all their youth ran together, and their women, to the assembly, and they set Achior in the midst of all their people.

And he answered and declared to them the words of the council of Holofernes, and all the words which he had spoken in the midst of the princes of Assur, and whatsoever Holofernes had spoken proudly against the house of Israel.

Then the people fell down and worshipped God, and cried to God saying,

O Lord God of heaven, behold their pride and pity the low estate of our nation and look upon the face of those who are sanctified for you this day.

Then they comforted Achior and praised him greatly. And Uzziah took him out of the assembly to his house and made a feast for the elders.

And they called on the God of Israel all that night for help.

The next day Holofernes commanded all his army and all his people who had arrived take his side that they should remove their camp from opposite Bethulia and capture in advance the ascents of the hill country in order to make war against the children of Israel.

Then their strong men removed their camps on that day; and the army of the men of war was one hundred seventy thousand foot soldiers, and twelve thousand horsemen, besides the baggage and the other men who were afoot among them, a very great multitude.

And they camped in the valley near Bethulia, by the spring, and they spread themselves in width across Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from Bethulia to Cynamon, which is opposite Esdraelon.

Now the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, were greatly troubled, and everyone said to his neighbor,

"Now these men will wipe clean the face of the earth, for neither the high mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, are able to bear their weight."

Then every man took up his weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires on their towers, they remained and watched all that night.

But on the second day, Holofernes brought forth all his horsemen in the sight of the children of Israel, who were in Bethulia, and viewed the passages up to the city;

and he went to the origins of their waters and captured them, and he set garrisons of men of war over them, and he himself returned toward his people.

Then they came to him, all the chiefs of the children of Esau and all the governors of the people of Moab and the captains of the sea coast, and they said,

Let our lord now hear a word, so that there will not be a loss among your army.

For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains where they dwell, for it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains.

Now therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in battle array and not so much as one man among your people will perish. Remain in your camp and keep all the men of your army there,