Judith 15

1 And when the men who were in the tents heard, they were beside themselves at what had happened. 2 Trembling and fear fell on them, and no man would stand and face his neighbor any longer; they poured out with one mind and fled by every road of the plain and of the hill country. [a] 3 Those who were camped in the hill country around Bethulia turned and ran as well. And then the children of Israel, every fighting man among them, poured out after them.

4 And Uzziah sent word to Betomesthaim and Bebai and Choba and Kola, and to all the territory of Israel — men to report what had been finished, and to say that everyone should pour out on the enemy and destroy them. [b] 5 When the children of Israel heard it, they all fell on them with one mind and cut them down as far as Choba. Those from Jerusalem came out too, and from all the hill country, for word had been brought to them of what had happened in the camp of their enemies; and those in Gilead and in Galilee swung round their flanks and struck them a great blow, until they had gone past Damascus and its borders.

6 The rest of them, the people living in Bethulia, fell on the camp of Assyria and plundered it, and they grew very rich. 7 And the children of Israel who came back from the slaughter took possession of what was left; and the villages and the farmsteads in the hill country and in the plain took great quantities of spoil, for there was a very great amount of it.

8 And Joakim the great priest, and the council of elders of the children of Israel who lived in Jerusalem, came to look at the good things the Lord had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to speak peace with her. [d] 9 And when they came in to her, they all blessed her with one mind and said to her, “You are the exaltation of Jerusalem. You are the great pride of Israel. You are the great boast of our people. 10 You have done all this with your own hand. You have done good things for Israel, and God has been well pleased with them. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty for all time to come.” And all the people said, “So be it.” †

11 And all the people plundered the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of Holofernes, and all his silver plate, and the couches, and the bowls, and all his furnishings; and she took them and loaded them on her mule, and harnessed her carts and piled the things on them. 12 And every woman of Israel came running together to see her, and they blessed her and made a dance for her among themselves; and she took leafy branches in her hands and gave them to the women who were with her. 13 And they crowned themselves with olive, she and the women with her; and she went out ahead of all the people in the dance, leading all the women, and every man of Israel followed, in his armor, with garlands on their heads and songs in their mouths. [e] 14 And Judith led out this song of thanksgiving in all Israel, and all the people sang this praise aloud after her. [f]