Judith 10

¹Forsothe it was doon, whanne sche hadde ceessid to crie to the Lord, sche roos fro the place, in which sche lay bowid doun to the Lord.

²And sche clepide hir fre handmaide, and cam doun in to hir hows; and sche took awei fro hir the heire, and vnclothide hir silf fro the clothing of hir widewehod.

³And sche waischide hir bodi, and anoyntide hir with beste myrre, and sche schedide the heer of hir heed, and settide a mytre on hir heed, and sche clothide hir with the clothis of hyr gladnesse, and clothide hir feet with sandalies; and sche took ournementis of the armes, and lilies, and eeryngis, and ryngis, and ournede hir silf with alle hir ournementis.

⁴To whom also the Lord yaf briytnesse, for al this ourenement hangide not of letcherie, but of vertu; and therfor the Lord `made large this fairnesse on hir, that bi `vncomparable fairnesse sche apperide to the iyen of alle men.

⁵Therfor sche puttide on hir fre handmaide a botel of wyn, and a vessel of oile, and meet maad of meele, and dried figus, and looues, and cheese, and yeden forth.

⁶And whanne thei weren comen to the yate of the citee, thei founden Ozie and the prestis of the citee abidynge hir.

⁷And whanne thei hadden seyn hir, thei weren astonyed, and wondriden ful myche on hir fairnesse.

⁸Netheles thei axiden hir no thing, and leeten passe, and seiden, The God of oure fadris yyue grace to thee, and make strong with his vertu al the counsel of thin herte, and Jerusalem haue glorie on thee, and thi name be in the noumbre of hooli and iust men.

⁹And alle thei, that weren there, seiden with o vois, Be it doon! be it doon!

¹⁰Therfor Judith preiede the Lord, and passide thorouy the yatis, sche and hir fre handmayde.

¹¹Forsothe it was doon, whanne sche cam doun of the hil aboute the risynge of the dai, the aspieris of Assiriens metten hir, and helden hir, and seiden, Fro whennus comest thou, ether whidur goist thou?

¹²And sche answeride, Y am a douyter of Ebreis, and therfor Y fledde fro the face of hem, for Y knew, that it schal come, that thei schulen be youun to you in to prey, for thei dispisiden you, and nolde bitake hem silf wilfuli, that thei schulden fynde grace in youre siyt.

¹³For this cause Y thouyte with me, and seide, Y schal go to the face of the prynce Holofernes, for to schewe to hym the priuytees of hem, and Y schal schewe to hym, bi what entryng he mai gete hem, so that not o man of his oost falle doun.

¹⁴And whanne tho men hadden herd the wordis of hir, thei bihelden hir face, and wondryng was in her iyen, for thei wondriden greetli on hir fairnesse.

¹⁵And thei seiden to hir, Thou hast kept thi lijf, for thou hast founde sich a counsel, that thou woldist come doun to oure lord.

¹⁶Sotheli wite thou this, that, whanne thou `hast stonde in his siyt, he schal do wel to thee, and thou schalt be moost acceptable in his herte. And thei ledden hir to the tabernacle of Holofernes, and thei schewiden hir to hym.

¹⁷And whanne sche hadde entrid bifor his face, anoon Holofernes was takun bi hise iyen.

¹⁸And hise knyytis seiden to hym, Who schal dispise the puple of Jewis, whiche han so faire wymmen, that we owen not to fiyte skilfuli ayenus hem for these wymmen?

¹⁹Therfor Judith siy Holofernes sittynge in a curteyn, round bynethe and scharp aboue, that was wouun of purpur, and gold, and smaragde, and moost preciouse stoonys,

²⁰and whanne sche hadde lokid in to his face, sche worschipide hym, and bowide doun hir silf on the erthe; and the seruauntis of Holofernes reisiden hir, for her lord comaundide.

Judith 10

¹Now after that she had ceased to cry unto the God of Israel, and had made an end of all these words.

²She rose where she had fallen down, and called her maid, and went down into the house in the which she abode in the sabbath days, and in her feast days,

³And pulled off the sackcloth which she had on, and put off the garments of her widowhood, and washed her body all over with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment, and braided the hair of her head, and put on a tire upon it, and put on her garments of gladness, wherewith she was clad during the life of Manasses her husband.

⁴And she took sandals upon her feet, and put about her her bracelets, and her chains, and her rings, and her earrings, and all her ornaments, and decked herself bravely, to allure the eyes of all men that should see her.

⁵Then she gave her maid a bottle of wine, and a cruse of oil, and filled a bag with parched corn, and lumps of figs, and with fine bread; so she folded all these things together, and laid them upon her.

⁶Thus they went forth to the gate of the city of Bethulia, and found standing there Ozias and the ancients of the city, Chabris and Charmis.

⁷And when they saw her, that her countenance was altered, and her apparel was changed, they wondered at her beauty very greatly, and said unto her.

⁸The God, the God of our fathers give thee favour, and accomplish thine enterprizes to the glory of the children of Israel, and to the exaltation of Jerusalem. Then they worshipped God.

⁹And she said unto them, Command the gates of the city to be opened unto me, that I may go forth to accomplish the things whereof ye have spoken with me. So they commanded the young men to open unto her, as she had spoken.

¹⁰And when they had done so, Judith went out, she, and her maid with her; and the men of the city looked after her, until she was gone down the mountain, and till she had passed the valley, and could see her no more.

¹¹Thus they went straight forth in the valley: and the first watch of the Assyrians met her,

¹²And took her, and asked her, Of what people art thou? and whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am a woman of the Hebrews, and am fled from them: for they shall be given you to be consumed:

¹³And I am coming before Holofernes the chief captain of your army, to declare words of truth; and I will shew him a way, whereby he shall go, and win all the hill country, without losing the body or life of any one of his men.

¹⁴Now when the men heard her words, and beheld her countenance, they wondered greatly at her beauty, and said unto her,

¹⁵Thou hast saved thy life, in that thou hast hasted to come down to the presence of our lord: now therefore come to his tent, and some of us shall conduct thee, until they have delivered thee to his hands.

¹⁶And when thou standest before him, be not afraid in thine heart, but shew unto him according to thy word; and he will entreat thee well.

¹⁷Then they chose out of them an hundred men to accompany her and her maid; and they brought her to the tent of Holofernes.

¹⁸Then was there a concourse throughout all the camp: for her coming was noised among the tents, and they came about her, as she stood without the tent of Holofernes, till they told him of her.

¹⁹And they wondered at her beauty, and admired the children of Israel because of her, and every one said to his neighbour, Who would despise this people, that have among them such women? surely it is not good that one man of them be left who being let go might deceive the whole earth.

²⁰And they that lay near Holofernes went out, and all his servants and they brought her into the tent.

²¹Now Holofernes rested upon his bed under a canopy, which was woven with purple, and gold, and emeralds, and precious stones.

²²So they shewed him of her; and he came out before his tent with silver lamps going before him.

²³And when Judith was come before him and his servants they all marvelled at the beauty of her countenance; and she fell down upon her face, and did reverence unto him: and his servants took her up.