¹ And Judith said: Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm; exalt him and call upon his name.

² For God is the Lord who crushes wars; for into his camp, in the midst of the people he delivered me out of the hands of my pursuers.

³ The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north; he came with myriads of his army; their multitude blocked up the valleys, their cavalry covered the hills.

⁴ He said he would burn up my territory and kill my young men with the sword and put my infants on the ground and hand over my children as prey and take my virgins as booty.

⁵ But the Lord Almighty has foiled them by the hand of a woman.

⁶ For their mighty one did not fall by the hands of the young men, nor did the sons of the Titans strike him, nor did tall giants set upon him; but Judith daughter of Merari undid him with the beauty of her face.

⁷ For she took off her widow’s mourning to exalt the oppressed in Israel. She anointed her face with ointment

⁸ and fastened her hair with a tiara and put on a linen gown to deceive him.

⁹ Her sandal ravished his eyes, her beauty captivated his mind, and the sword severed his neck.

¹⁰ The Persians trembled at her boldness, the Medes were daunted at her daring.

¹¹ Then my oppressed people raised the war cry; my weak people shouted. And they trembled, they raised their cry and turned to flight.

¹² The sons of maidservants have pierced them through; they wounded them like the children of fugi tives, they perished before the army of my Lord.

¹³ I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible.

¹⁴ Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke, and they were made. You sent forth your Spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice.

¹⁵ For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters; at your presence the rocks shall melt like wax, but to those who fear you you will continue to show mercy.

¹⁶ For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing, and all fat for whole burnt offerings to you is a very little thing, but he who fears the Lord shall be great for ever.

¹⁷ Woe to the nations that rise up against my people! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgement; fire and worms he will give to their flesh; they shall weep in pain for ever.

¹⁸ When they arrived at Jerusalem they worshipped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their whole burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts.

¹⁹ Judith also dedicated to God all the vessels of Holofernes, which the people had given her; and the canopy that she took for herself from his bedchamber she gave as a votive offering to the Lord.

²⁰ So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for three months, and Judith remained with them. Renown and Death of Judith

²¹ After this everyone returned home to his own inheri tance, and Judith went to Bethulia and remained on her estate and was honoured in her time throughout the whole country.

²² Many desired to marry her, but she remained a widow all the days of her life after Manasseh her husband died and was gathered to his people.

²³ She became more and more famous and grew old in her husband’s house, until she was one hundred five years old. She set her maid free. She died in Bethulia, and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh,

²⁴ and the house of Israel mourned for her seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her husband Manasseh and to her own nearest kinsmen.

²⁵ And no one ever again spread terror among the people of Israel in the days of Judith or for a long time after her death.