Judith 4

¹Then, upon hearing these things, the sons of Israel, who dwelt in the land of Judah, were very afraid before his face.

²Trembling and horror invaded their senses, lest he should do the same thing to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord that he had done to other cities and their temples.

³And they sent into all of Samaria, and by an indirect route even to Jericho, and they seized in advance all the tops of the mountains.

⁴And they surrounded their villages with walls, and they gathered together grain in preparation for the fight.

⁵And then Eliachim the priest wrote to all who were opposite Esdrelon, which is opposite the face of the great plain near Dothain, and to all whom he would be able to reach through a passable way:

⁶that they should hold the ascents of the mountains, through which there might be any passage able to reach Jerusalem, and that they should keep watch where the passage was narrow, wherever possible, between the mountains.

⁷And the sons of Israel did just as Eliachim, the priest of the Lord, had appointed them.

⁸And all the people cried out to the Lord with great urgency, and they humbled their souls with fastings, and prayers, both they and their wives.

⁹And the priests clothed themselves with haircloths, and they prostrated the little children opposite the face of the temple of the Lord, and they covered the altar of the Lord with haircloth.

¹⁰And they cried out to the Lord God of Israel with one accord, lest their children should be given over as prey, and their wives into distribution, and their cities into extermination, and their holy things into defilement, and so that they might not become the disgrace of the Gentiles.

¹¹Then Eliachim, the high priest of the Lord, traveled all around Israel, and he was talking to them,

¹²saying: “Know that the Lord will heed your prayers, if you continue to persevere in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord.

¹³Recall that Moses, the servant of the Lord, overcame Amalek, who trusted in his own strength, and in his power, and in his army, and in his bronze shields, and in his swift chariots, and in his horsemen. He overcame him, not by fighting with iron, but by pleading with holy prayers.

¹⁴So will it be with all the enemies of Israel, if you persevere in this work that you have begun.”

¹⁵Therefore, by this exhortation and his prayer to the Lord, they continued in the sight of the Lord,

¹⁶so that even those who offered holocausts to the Lord, offered the sacrifices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and there were ashes upon their heads.

¹⁷And they all begged God with their whole heart, that he would visit his people Israel.

Judith 4

¹Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought.

²Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of him, and were troubled for Jerusalem, and for the temple of the Lord their God:

³For they were newly returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea were lately gathered together: and the vessels, and the altar, and the house, were sanctified after the profanation.

⁴Therefore 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:

⁵And possessed themselves beforehand of all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages that were in them, and laid up victuals for the provision of war: for their fields were of late reaped.

⁶Also Joacim the high priest, which was in those days in Jerusalem, wrote to them that dwelt in Bethulia, and Betomestham, which is over against Esdraelon toward the open country, near to Dothaim,

⁷Charging them to keep the passages of the hill country: for by them there was an entrance into Judea, and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was straight, for two men at the most.

⁸And the children of Israel did as Joacim the high priest had commanded them, with the ancients of all the people of Israel, which dwelt at Jerusalem.

⁹Then every man of Israel cried to God with great fervency, and with great vehemency did they humble their souls:

¹⁰Both they, and their wives and their children, and their cattle, and every stranger and hireling, and their servants bought with money, put sackcloth upon their loins.

¹¹Thus every man and women, and the 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: also they put sackcloth about the altar,

¹²And cried to the God of Israel all with one consent earnestly, that he would not give their children for a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to profanation and reproach, and for the nations to rejoice at.

¹³So 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.

¹⁴And Joacim the high priest, and all the priests that stood before the Lord, and they which ministered unto the Lord, had their loins girt with sackcloth, and offered the daily burnt offerings, with the vows and free gifts of the people,

¹⁵And had ashes on their mitres, and cried unto the Lord with all their power, that he would look upon all the house of Israel graciously.