Judith 9

1 Judith fell on her face, and put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she had on underneath; and just then, in Jerusalem, in the house of God, the incense of that evening was being offered. And Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice and said, [a] 2 “Lord, God of my father Simeon, into whose hand you gave a sword to take vengeance on men of another people — men who loosed a virgin’s womb to defilement, and uncovered a thigh to shame, and treated a womb as a common thing, to disgrace. For you said, ‘It shall not be so,’ and they did it. [b] 3 In return for that you gave their rulers over to slaughter, and their bed — which was ashamed at their deceit — over to blood, deceived in its turn; and you struck down slaves along with the mighty, and the mighty upon their thrones. [c] 4 And you gave their wives for plunder and their daughters for captivity, and all their spoil to be divided among the sons you loved, who were zealous with your own zeal and detested the defilement of their blood and called on you to be their helper. O God, my God — hear me too, a widow.

5 For you made the things that came before those, and those themselves, and the things after them; you had in mind the things that are now and the things that are coming, and what you thought of came to be. 6 The things you planned stood ready and said, ‘Here we are.’ For all your ways are prepared, and your judgment is made in knowing beforehand.

7 See, the Assyrians have grown many in their power. They are lifted up with horse and rider; they glory in the arm of their foot soldiers; they put their hope in shield and spear and bow and sling — and they do not know that you are the Lord who shatters wars. [d] 8 The Lord is your name. Dash their strength to pieces by your power, and bring their might down in your anger. For they have planned to treat your holy things as common, to defile the tent where the name of your glory comes to rest, to throw down the horn of your altar with iron. [e]

9 Look on their pride; send your anger onto their heads; give into my hand — a widow’s hand — the might I have had in mind. 10 By the deceit of my lips strike down a slave along with a ruler, and a ruler along with his servant; break down their high standing by the hand of a woman. [f] †

11 For your might is not in numbers, nor your mastery in strong men; but you are the God of the lowly, the helper of the lesser, the upholder of the weak, the shelter of those given up for lost, the one who rescues those who have lost all hope. [g] 12 Yes, yes — God of my father, and God of the inheritance of Israel, Master of the heavens and the earth, Creator of the waters, king of all your creation: hear my plea,

13 and make my word and my deceit a wound and a bruise to them — to men who have planned hard things against your covenant, and against your house that was made holy, and against the height of Zion, and against the house your sons hold as their own. 14 And give your whole nation and every tribe the knowledge to know that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who holds a shield over the people of Israel but you.” [h]