Judith 8

¹And it was doon, whanne Judith, the widowe, had herd these wordis, whiche Judith was the douyter of Merary, the sone of Idor, the sone of Joseph, the sone of Ozie, the sone of Elai, the sone of Jamnor, the sone of Jedeon, the sone of Raphony, the sone of Achitob, the sone of Melchie, the sone of Euam, the sone of Mathanye, the sone of Salatiel, the sone of Symeon, the sone of Ruben.

²And hir hosebonde was Manasses, that was deed in the daies of barli heruest;

³for he stood bisili ouer men byndynge togidere reepis in the feeld, and heete cam on his heed, and he was deed in Bethulia his citee, and was biried there with hise fadris.

⁴Sotheli Judith left of hym was widewe thanne thre yeer and sixe monethis. And in the hiyere partis of hir hows sche made to hir a priuy closet, in which sche dwellide cloos with hir damesels;

⁶and sche hadde an heire on her leendis, and fastide alle the daies of hir lijf, outakun sabatis, and the `bigynnyngis of monethis, and the feestis of the hows of Israel.

⁷Sotheli sche was of ful semeli biholdyng, to whom hir hosebonde hadde left many richessis, and plenteuouse meynee, and possessiouns ful of droues of oxis, and of flockis of scheep.

⁸And this Judith was moost famouse among alle men; for sche dredde God greetli, nethir ony was that spak of hir an yuel word.

⁹Therfor whanne this Judith hadde herd, that Ozie hadde bihiyte, that whanne the fyuethe day was passid, he wolde bitake the citee, sche sente to the prestis Cambri and Carmy.

¹⁰And thei camen to hir; and sche seide to hem, What is this word, in which Ozie consentide to bitake the citee to Assiriens, if with ynne fyue daies help cometh not to vs?

¹¹And who ben ye that tempten the Lord?

¹²This `word is not that stirith merci; but rather that stirith ire, and kyndlith woodnesse.

¹³Han ye set tyme of the merciful doynge of the Lord, and in youre wille `ye han set a dai to hym?

¹⁴But for the Lord is pacient, do we penaunce for this synne, and axe we with teeris his foryyuenesse;

¹⁵for God schal not manaasse so as man, nethir as `a sone of man he schal be enflawmed to wrathfulnesse.

¹⁶And therfor meke we oure soulis to hym, and in contrit spirit and maad meke serue we hym;

¹⁷and seie we wepynge to the Lord, that aftir his wille so he do his merci with vs; and as oure herte is troblid in the pride of hem, so haue we glorie `also of oure mekenesse.

¹⁸For we `sueden not the synnes of oure fadris, that forsoken her God, and worschipiden alien goddis;

¹⁹for which greet trespas thei weren youun to her enemyes in to swerd, and in to raueyn, and in to confusioun; but we knowen not an othir God outakun hym.

²⁰`Abide we meke his coumfort, and he schal seke oure blood of the turmentis of oure enemies; and he schal make meke alle folkis, whiche euer risen ayens vs; and oure Lord God schal make hem without onour.

²¹And now, britheren, for ye ben prestis in the puple of God, and the soule of hem hangith of you, reise ye her hertis at youre speche, that thei be myndeful, that oure fadris weren temptid, that thei schulden be preued, whethir thei worschipiden God verili.

²²Thei owen to be myndeful, hou oure fadir Abraham was temptid, and he was preuyd bi many tribulaciouns, and was maad the frend of God.

²³So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moyses, and alle that plesiden `the Lord, passiden feithful bi many tribulaciouns.

²⁴Sotheli thei that resseyueden not temptaciouns with the drede of the Lord, and brouyten forth her vnpacience, and the schenschip of her grutchyng `ayens the Lord,

²⁵weren distried of a distriere, and perischiden of serpentis.

²⁶And therfor venge we not vs for these thingis whiche we suffren;

²⁷but arette we, that these same turmentis ben lesse than oure synnes, and bileue we, as seruauntis of the Lord that ben chastisid, that the betyngis of the Lord ben comun to amendyng, and not to oure perdicioun.

²⁸And Ozie and the prestis seiden to hir, Alle thingis, whiche thou hast spoke, ben sothe, and no repreuyng is in thi wordis.

²⁹Now therfor preie thou for vs, for thou art an hooli womman, and dredynge God.

³⁰And Judith seide to hem, As ye knowen, that this, that Y myyte speke, is of God,

³¹so preue ye, if this that Y purposide to do, is of God; and preie ye, that God make stidfast my counsel.

³²Ye schulen stonde at the yate this niyt, and Y schal go out with my fre handmayde; and preie ye, that, as ye seiden, the Lord biholde his puple Israel in fyue daies.

³³But Y nyle, that ye enquere my doyng, and til that Y telle to you, `noon othir thing be doon, no but preier for me to oure Lord God.

³⁴And Ozie, the prince of Juda, seide to hir, Go thou in pees, and the Lord be with thee in the veniaunce of oure enemyes. And thei turneden ayen, and yeden awey.

Judith 8

¹Now at that time Judith heard thereof, which was the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozel, the son of Elcia, the son of Ananias, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Samael, the son of Salasadal, the son of Israel.

²And Manasses was her husband, of her tribe and kindred, who died in the barley harvest.

³For as he stood overseeing them that bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in the city of Bethulia: and they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothaim and Balamo.

⁴So Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months.

⁵And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins and ware her widow’s apparel.

⁶And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the sabbaths, and the sabbaths, and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons and the feasts and solemn days of the house of Israel.

⁷She was also of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold: and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them.

⁸And there was none that gave her an ill word; as she feared God greatly.

⁹Now when she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, that they fainted for lack of water; for Judith had heard all the words that Ozias had spoken unto them, and that he had sworn to deliver the city unto the Assyrians after five days;

¹⁰Then she sent her waitingwoman, that had the government of all things that she had, to call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of the city.

¹¹And they came unto her, and she said unto them, Hear me now, O ye governors of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your words that ye have spoken before the people this day are not right, touching this oath which ye made and pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you.

¹²And now who are ye that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men?

¹³And now try the Lord Almighty, but ye shall never know any thing.

¹⁴For ye cannot find the depth of the heart of man, neither can ye perceive the things that he thinketh: then how can ye search out God, that hath made all these things, and know his mind, or comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger.

¹⁵For if he will not help us within these five days, he hath power to defend us when he will, even every day, or to destroy us before our enemies.

¹⁶Do not bind the counsels of the Lord our God: for God is not as man, that he may be threatened; neither is he as the son of man, that he should be wavering.

¹⁷Therefore let us wait for salvation of him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him.

¹⁸For there arose none in our age, neither is there any now in these days neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor city among us, which worship gods made with hands, as hath been aforetime.

¹⁹For the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and had a great fall before our enemies.

²⁰But we know none other god, therefore we trust that he will not despise us, nor any of our nation.

²¹For if we be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and he will require the profanation thereof at our mouth.

²²And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the country, and the desolation of our inheritance, will he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach to all them that possess us.

²³For our servitude shall not be directed to favour: but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonour.

²⁴Now therefore, O brethren, let us shew an example to our brethren, because their hearts depend upon us, and the sanctuary, and the house, and the altar, rest upon us.

²⁵Moreover let us give thanks to the Lord our God, which trieth us, even as he did our fathers.

²⁶Remember what things he did to Abraham, and how he tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother.

²⁷For he hath not tried us in the fire, as he did them, for the examination of their hearts, neither hath he taken vengeance on us: but the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto him, to admonish them.

²⁸Then said Ozias to her, All that thou hast spoken hast thou spoken with a good heart, and there is none that may gainsay thy words.

²⁹For this is not the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known thy understanding, because the disposition of thine heart is good.

³⁰But the people were very thirsty, and compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break.

³¹Therefore now pray thou for us, because thou art a godly woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more.

³²Then said Judith unto them, Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations to the children of our nation.

³³Ye shall stand this night in the gate, and I will go forth with my waitingwoman: and within the days that ye have promised to deliver the city to our enemies the Lord will visit Israel by mine hand.

³⁴But enquire not ye of mine act: for I will not declare it unto you, till the things be finished that I do.

³⁵Then said Ozias and the princes unto her, Go in peace, and the Lord God be before thee, to take vengeance on our enemies.

³⁶So they returned from the tent, and went to their wards.