\NormalFont\ShortTitle{JUDITH}

{\MT JUDITH



\par }\ChapOne{CHAPTER 1}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And so Arphaxad, king of Medes, had made subject many folks to his empire; and he builded a full mighty city, which he called Ecbatana.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}Of square stones and carved
{\ADD{[or hewn]}} he made the walls thereof, in the height of threescore cubits and ten
{\ADD{[or seventy cubits]}}, and in the breadth of thirty cubits. And he set the towers thereof in the height of an hundred cubits.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And by the squareness of the towers ever either side was stretched forth, by
{\ADD{[or in]}} the space of twenty feet; and he set the gates of that
{\EM{city}} in the height of those towers.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And he had glory, as a mighty man in the power of his host, and in the glory of his chariots
{\ADD{[or his four-horsed carts]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Therefore Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyrians, that reigned in the great city Nineveh, in the twelfth year of his realm he fought against Arphaxad, and he got,
{\EM{or took, Arphaxad}} in a great field,


\par }{\PP \VS{6}that was called Ragau, beside
{\EM{the}} floods
{\EM{of}} Euphrates, and Tigris, and Hydaspes, in the field of Arioch, the king of Elymeans.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Then the realm of Nebuchadnezzar was enhanced, and his heart was raised
{\EM{into pride}}; and he sent to all men, that dwelled in Cilicia, and in Damascus, and in Lebanon,


\par }{\PP \VS{8}and to folks, that were in Carmel, and in Gilead, and to men dwelling in Galilee, and in the great field of Esdraelon,


\par }{\PP \VS{9}and to all men
{\ADD{[or to all]}}, that were in Samaria, and beyond the flood of Jordan, unto Jerusalem; and to all the land of Goshen, till that men come to the hills of Ethiopia.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}To all these men, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyrians, sent messengers;


\par }{\PP \VS{11}and all these against-said with one will, and they sent again
{\EM{his messengers}} void, and they casted
{\EM{them}} away without honour.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Then Nebuchadnezzar was wroth to all that land, and he swore by his realm and by his throne, that he would defend him from all these countries
{\ADD{[or regions]}},
{\EM{that is, assail all those countries}}.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 2}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the thirteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, in the two and twentieth day of the first month, a word was made
{\ADD{[or done]}} in the house of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyrians, that he would defend him
{\EM{from his enemies}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And he called to him all his elder men, and all the dukes, his warriors
{\ADD{[or his fighters]}}; and had with them the private of his counsel.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And he said, that his thought
{\EM{and intent}} was
{\EM{set}} in that thing, to make subject each land to his empire.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And when this saying had pleased all men, king Nebuchadnezzar called Holofernes, the prince of his chivalry, and said to him,


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Go thou out against each realm of the west, and against them principally, that despised my commandment
{\ADD{[or mine empire]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Thine eye shall not spare any realm, and thou shalt make subject to me each strengthened city.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Then Holofernes called the dukes and magistrates of the power of Assyrians, and he numbered men into the making ready
{\EM{of battle}}, as the king commanded to him, sixscore thousand of footmen fighters, and twelve thousand horsemen and archers.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And he made all his purveyance to go before
{\EM{him}} in multitude of unnumberable camels, with those things that sufficed plenteously to his hosts, and
{\EM{he sent}} droves of oxen, and flocks of sheep, of which was none number.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}He ordained wheat to be made ready of all Syria in his passage.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And he took
{\EM{with him}} much gold and silver of the king’s house.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And
{\EM{Holofernes}}, and all his host, went forth with chariots
{\ADD{[or four-horsed carts]}}, and horsemen, and archers, which covered the face of the earth, as locusts.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}And when he had passed the ends
{\ADD{[or the coasts]}} of Assyrians, he came to the great hills
{\EM{called}} Auge, that be at the left half
{\ADD{[or left side]}} of Cilicia; and he went up into all the castles of them, and he got each strong place
{\ADD{[or hold]}} there.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}And he brake
{\EM{and destroyed}} the most strong city
{\EM{called}} Bectileth, and he robbed all the sons of Rasses, and the sons of Ishmael, that were against the face of desert, and at the south
{\EM{coast}} of the land of Chelleans.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And he passed
{\ADD{[over]}} Euphrates, and came into Mesopotamia, and he brake,
{\EM{and wasted}}, all the high cities that were there, from the strand
{\ADD{[or the stream]}} of Abron till that men come to the sea.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And he occupied the ends or the coasts thereof from Cilicia unto the ends of Japheth, that be at the south.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And he brought
{\EM{with him}} all the sons of Midian, and he took from them all their riches; and he killed by the sharpness of sword all men against-standing him.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And after these things he came down into the fields of Damascus, in the days of ripe corn
{\ADD{[or of reaping]}},
{\EM{that is, in harvest}}, and he burnt
{\ADD{[up]}} all those corns
{\ADD{[or all the sown things]}}, and he made all the trees and vines to be cut down;


\par }{\PP \VS{18}and his dread fell upon all men inhabiting the land or dwelling upon earth
{\ADD{[or all the dwellers in the land]}}.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 3}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then the kings and princes of all cities and provinces, that is, of Syria, of Mesopotamia, and Coelesyria, and of Lebanon, and of Cilicia, sent their messengers
{\ADD{[or their legates]}}. And when they came to Holofernes, they said,


\par }{\PP \VS{2}Thine indignation cease about us
{\ADD{[or Cease thine indignation about us]}}; for it is better, that we live and serve Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, and to be subject to thee, than that we die, and suffer with our perishing the harms of our servage, or our thrall-dom,
{\EM{that is, suffer more harms then is servage}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}Each city of ours
{\ADD{[or All our cities]}}, and all our possessions, all
{\EM{our}} mountains, and little hills, and
{\EM{our}} fields, and droves of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and of goats, and of horses, and of camels, and all our riches and
{\EM{our}} meines be in thy sight;


\par }{\PP \VS{4}all things be under thy law.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Also we and our children be thy servants.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Come thou
{\EM{and be thou}} a peaceable lord to us, and use thou our service, as it pleaseth thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Then
{\EM{Holofernes}} came down from the hills, with knights
{\ADD{[or horse-men]}} in great strength, and he got each city, and each man inhabiting the land or each man that dwelled in that land.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And of all the cities he took to him helpers, strong men and chosen to battle.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And so great dread
{\EM{of Holofernes}} lay
{\ADD{[or fell]}} upon all provinces, that the dwellers of all cities,
{\EM{and}} the princes and men of honour, went together out with
{\EM{their}} peoples to meet him coming,


\par }{\PP \VS{10}and received him with crowns and lamps, and they led dances
{\EM{before him}} with pipes and tympans
{\ADD{[or trumps and timbrels]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}Nevertheless they doing these things might not assuage the fierce-ness of his heart;


\par }{\PP \VS{12}for why both he destroyed their cities, and hewed down their
{\ADD{[maumet]}} woods.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}For king Nebuchadnezzar had commanded to him, that he should destroy all the gods of earth
{\ADD{[or of the land]}}, that is, that he alone should be said god of all these nations, that might be made subject/s by the power of Holofernes
{\ADD{[or might be under-yoked by the might of Holofernes]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And
{\EM{Holofernes}} passed over all Coelesyria, and all
{\EM{the country of}} Appanie, and all Mesopotamia, and he came to Idumeans in the land of Geba;


\par }{\PP \VS{15}and he took the cities of them, and dwelled there by thirty days, in which days he commanded all the host of his power to be gathered together.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 4}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then the sons of Israel, that dwelled in the land of Judea, heard these things, and they dreaded greatly of the face
{\EM{of Holofernes}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}Also trembling and hideousness
{\ADD{[or horror]}} assailed the wits of them, lest he should do this thing to Jerusalem, and to the temple of the Lord, which thing he had done to other cities and temples of them
{\ADD{[or their temples]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And they sent into all Samaria, by compass till to Jericho, and before-occupied all the cops or the heights of the hills;


\par }{\PP \VS{4}and they encompassed their towns with walls, and gathered together wheat into the making ready of battle.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Also the priest Joakim wrote to all men, that were
{\EM{dwelling}} against Esdraelon, which is even against the face of the great field besides Dothan, and to all men by whom passage might be,


\par }{\PP \VS{6}that they should hold
{\ADD{[or wield]}} the goings-up of the hills, by which
{\EM{hills}} a way
{\EM{to their enemies}} might be to Jerusalem, and that they should keep there, where straight way might be among the hills.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}And the sons of Israel did after this
{\EM{behest}}, that Joakim, the priest of the Lord, had ordained to them.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And all the people cried to the Lord with great instance,
{\EM{or hearty beseeching}}, and they and the women of them meeked their souls in fastings.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And the priests clothed them-selves with hair-shirts, and the young children bowed themselves against the face of the temple of the Lord, and they covered the altar of the Lord with an hair-shirt.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And they cried together to the Lord God of Israel, lest the children of them should be given into prey, and the wives of them into parting or departing
{\EM{by violence of ravishers}}, and their cities into destroying, and their holy things into defouling.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}Then Joakim, the great priest of the Lord, compassed all Israel, and spake to them, and said,


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Know ye, that the Lord shall hear your prayers, if ye dwelling dwell perfectly
{\ADD{[or abide still]}} in fastings and in prayers in the sight of the Lord.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Be ye mindful of Moses, the servant of the Lord, which not in fighting with iron, but in praying with holy prayers, casted down Amalek trusting in his virtue or his strength, and in his power, and in his host, and in his shields, and in his chariots, and in his knights
{\ADD{[or his horsemen]}};


\par }{\PP \VS{14}and so shall all the enemies of Israel be cast down, if ye continue in this work, which ye have begun.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}Therefore at this exciting,
{\ADD{[or exhortation]}},
{\EM{or stirring}}, of him, the
{\EM{men of Israel}} prayed heartily to the Lord, and dwelled in the sight of the Lord,


\par }{\PP \VS{16}so that also they, that offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, were girt with hair-shirts, and they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and ashes were
{\EM{put}} upon their heads.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And all men of all their hearts prayed to the Lord, that he would visit his people Israel.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 5}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it was to Holofernes, prince of the chivalry of men of Assyria, that the children of Israel made ready themselves to against-stand
{\EM{him}}{\ADD{[or that the sons of Israel made them-selves ready to withstand]}}, and that they had closed altogether the ways of the hills.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And by over-great madness he burnt out into great wrathfulness
{\ADD{[or with full much madness he burned out into great wrath]}}; and he called all the princes of Moab, and the dukes of Ammon,


\par }{\PP \VS{3}and said to them, Say ye to me, who this people is
{\ADD{[or who be these people]}}, that besiegeth the hilly places; either which, and what manner, and how great be their cities; also what is the virtue or the strength of them, either what is the multitude of them, either who is the king of their chivalry;


\par }{\PP \VS{4}and why before all men, that dwell in the east, have these men despised me, and they have not gone out to receive us with peace?


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Then Achior, duke of all the sons of Ammon, answered and said, My lord, if thou vouchest safe to hear me, I shall say the truth in thy sight of this people that dwelleth in the hilly places
{\ADD{[or in the mountains]}}, and a false word shall not go out of my mouth.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}This people is of the generation of Chaldeans;


\par }{\PP \VS{7}and this people dwelled first in Mesopotamia; for they would not pursue
{\ADD{[or follow]}} the gods of their fathers, that were in the land of Chaldea.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}Therefore they forsook the ceremonies of their fathers, that were with the multitude of gods,


\par }{\PP \VS{9}and they worshipped one God of heaven, which also commanded to them to go out from thence, and to dwell in Canaan. And when hunger had covered all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there they were so multiplied by four hundred years
{\ADD{[or there by four hundred years so be multiplied]}}, that the host of them might not be numbered\FTNT{*}{{\FR CHAPTER 5:9 }{\FT{{\EM{This nativity beginneth at Isaac, and endeth in the going out of Egypt}}.}}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And when the king of Egypt had grieved them, and had made them subjects in the buildings of his cities in clay and tilestone, they cried to their God, and he smote all the land of Egypt with diverse vengeances.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And when men of Egypt had cast out from them the men of Israel, and the vengeance had ceased from the men of Egypt, and again
{\EM{when}} they would take the men of Israel, and again-call
{\EM{them}} to their service,


\par }{\PP \VS{12}{\EM{then}} God of heaven opened the sea to these men
{\EM{of Israel}} fleeing
{\EM{away}}, so that on this side and on that side
{\ADD{[or on either side]}} the waters were made firm as walls, and in their walking these men with dry feet passed the deepness of the sea.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}In which place the while unnumberable host of men of Egypt
{\ADD{[or of Egyptians]}} pursued Israel, it was so covered with waters, that there dwelled not namely one man
{\EM{alive}}, that should tell the deed to after-comers.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}Also the men of Israel went out of the Reed Sea
{\ADD{[or the Red Sea]}}, and they occupied the deserts of the hill
{\ADD{[or of the mounts]}} of Sinai, in which
{\EM{deserts}} there might never man dwell, neither
{\EM{any}} son of man rest
{\EM{there}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}There bitter wells were made sweet to them for to drink; and by forty years they got livelode from heaven.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And wherever they entered, their God fought for them, and he over-came
{\EM{their adversaries}} without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And there was no man that casted down this people, no but when it went away from the worshipping of their Lord God
{\ADD{[or the Lord his God]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}Soothly as often ever as they worshipped any other except that their own God, they were given into prey, and into sword, and into shame
{\ADD{[or reproof]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{19}But as often ever as they repented that they had gone away from the worshipping of their God, God of heaven gave to them virtue to against-stand
{\EM{their enemies}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}Certainly they casted down the kings of Canaanites, and of Jebusites, and of Perizzites, and of Shechemites, and of Girgashites, and of Amorites, and all the mighty men of Heshbon, and they had in possession the lands of them, and the cities of them;


\par }{\PP \VS{21}and till that they had sinned in the sight of their God, good things
{\EM{and prosperity}} were with them, for the God of them hateth wickedness.


\par }{\PP \VS{22}For why and before these years, when they had gone away from the way which God had given to them, that they should go therein, they were destroyed of
{\EM{diverse}} nations by many battles, and full many of them were led prisoners
{\ADD{[or led captive]}} into a land not theirs.


\par }{\PP \VS{23}But a while ago they turned again to the Lord their God, and they were gathered together from the scattering, in which they were scattered; and
{\EM{now}} they have gone up into all these hilly places, and again they have Jerusalem in possession, where the holy of holy things be.


\par }{\PP \VS{24}Now therefore, my lord, inquire thou perfectly, if any wickedness of them is
{\ADD{[or if there is any wickedness of them]}} in the sight of their God, and go we
{\EM{then}} up to them; for their God betaking shall betake them to thee, and they shall be made subject under the yoke of thy might.


\par }{\PP \VS{25}Truly if none offence of this people is before their God, we may not against-stand them; for the God of them shall defend them, and we shall be into shame to all earth.


\par }{\PP \VS{26}And it was done, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were wroth
{\EM{against him}}, and they thought to slay him, and they said together,


\par }{\PP \VS{27}Who is this that saith, that the sons of Israel, men without armour
{\ADD{[or arms]}}, and without virtue or strength, and without knowing of the craft of fighting may against-stand king Nebuchadnezzar and his hosts?


\par }{\PP \VS{28}Therefore that
{\EM{this}} Achior know, that he deceiveth us, go we up into the hilly places
{\ADD{[or the mountains]}}; and when the mighty men of them be taken, then he shall be pierced with a sword with the same men;


\par }{\PP \VS{29}and all folk know, that Nebuchad-nezzar is god of earth, and except him there is none other.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 6}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it was done, when they had ceased to speak, Holofernes had disdain greatly, and he said to Achior,


\par }{\PP \VS{2}For thou hast prophesied to us, and saidest, that the folk of Israel is defended of their God, that I show to thee, that no god is but Nebuchad-nezzar;


\par }{\PP \VS{3}when we have slain them all as one man/when we as one man have slain all the sons of Israel, then also thou shalt perish with them by the sword of men of Assyria, and all Israel shall perish diversely with thee in perdition;


\par }{\PP \VS{4}and thou shalt prove, that Nebu-chadnezzar is lord of all earth; and then the sword of my chivalry shall pass through thy sides, and thou shalt be pierced, and thou shalt fall among the wounded men of Israel, and thou shalt no more breathe again
{\ADD{[or thou shalt no more take breath]}}, till thou be destroyed with them.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}But certainly if thou guessest thy prophecy sooth, thy cheer fall not down
{\ADD{[or fall not down thy cheer]}}; and the paleness that hath gotten thy face, go away from thee, if thou guessest that these my words may not be fulfilled.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}But that thou know, that thou shalt feel this thing together with the children of Israel, lo! from this hour thou shalt be fellowshipped to the people of them, that when they have taken,
{\EM{or suffered}}, worthy pains of my sword, thou be subject to like vengeance.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Then Holofernes commanded to his servants to take Achior, and to lead him into Bethulia, and to betake him into the hands of the sons of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And the servants of Holofernes took him, and they went forth by the field places, but when they had nighed to the hilly places
{\ADD{[or the mountains]}}, slingers or men throwing stones with slings, went out against them.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And they turned away from the side of the hill, and they bound Achior to a tree by
{\EM{his}} hands and feet, and so they left him bound with ropes
{\ADD{[or cords]}}, and they turned again to their lord.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And the sons of Israel went down from Bethulia, and they came to Achior, whom they unbound
{\ADD{[or loosed]}}, and led him to Bethulia, and they set him in the midst of the people, and they asked
{\ADD{[him]}}, what manner of things befell, that the men of Assyria had left him bound.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}In those days
{\EM{these}} princes
{\EM{of Jews}} were there, Uzziah, the son of Micah, of the lineage of Simeon, and Charmis, which is also
{\EM{called}} Gothoniel.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Therefore in the midst of elder men
{\ADD{[or And so in the middle of the elders]}}, and in the sight of all men, Achior said all the things, which he was asked of Holofernes, and had told
{\EM{to Holofernes}}, and how the people of Holofernes would slay him for this word
{\EM{that he had said}},


\par }{\PP \VS{13}and how Holofernes himself was wroth, and commanded him to be betaken for this cause to the men of Israel, that the while he overcame the sons of Israel, then he commanded that also that Achior perish with diverse torments, for this thing that he had said, God of heaven is the defender of
{\EM{his people}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And when Achior had expounded all
{\EM{these}} things, all the people felled down on their faces, and worshipped the Lord; and with common wailing
{\ADD{[or lamenting]}} and weeping they shed out to the Lord their prayers of one will,


\par }{\PP \VS{15}saying, Lord God of heaven and of earth, behold the pride of
{\EM{thine enemies}}, and behold thou to our meekness, and take heed to the face of thy saints, and show that thou forsakest not men trusting in thee, and that thou makest low men trusting of themselves, and men having glory or them that have glory of their own virtue,
{\EM{or strength}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}Therefore when the weeping was ended, and the prayer of the people by all the day was fulfilled,


\par }{\PP \VS{17}they comforted Achior, and said, God of our fathers, whose virtue or power thou hast preached, he is rewarder
{\EM{of all goodness}}, and he shall give thee
{\EM{grace}}{\ADD{[or recompensation]}} for this while, that thou see more the perishing of them.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}And when the Lord our God hath given this freedom to his servants,
{\EM{that we have overcome our enemies}}, also the Lord be
{\EM{then}} with thee in the midst or in the middle of us, that as it shall please thee, so thou live with all thy things
{\ADD{[or so with all thine thou dwell]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{19}Then after that this council was ended, Uzziah,
{\EM{the chief priest}}, received Achior into his house, and made a great supper to him.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}And when all the priests were called together, after that the fasting was filled, they refreshed
{\EM{Achior and themselves}},
{\ADD{[or they ate]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{21}And afterward all the people was called together, and they prayed by
{\ADD{[or throughout]}} all the night within the church, and they asked help of God of Israel.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 7}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Forsooth in the tother day Holofernes commanded his hosts to go up against Bethulia.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And there were with them sixscore thousand of footmen fighters, and twelve thousand knights
{\ADD{[or horsemen]}}, without
{\ADD{[or besides]}} those men, that were
{\EM{there}} ready, which the captivity had occupied, and were brought from provinces and cities, of all youth,
{\EM{or of able fighters}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And all
{\EM{there}} together made them ready to battle against the sons of Israel; and they came by the side of an hill unto the cop or the height
{\EM{thereof}}, that beholdeth Dothan, from the place which is said Balbaim unto Cyamon, which is against Esdraelon.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And the sons of Israel, as soon as they saw the multitude of them, they bowed down themselves upon the earth, and threw
{\ADD{[or putting]}} ashes upon their heads, and they prayed with one will, that God of Israel should show his mercy upon his people.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And they took their armours
{\ADD{[or arms]}} of battle, and they sat by the places by which the path of the straightway betwixt the hilly places is dressed, and they kept those places all the day and night.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Certainly Holofernes, the while he went about by compass, found that the well, that flowed into the water conduit of them, was dressed at the south part without the city, and he commanded their water conduit to be cut asunder
{\ADD{[or to be hewn down]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Nevertheless wells were not far from the walls
{\EM{of the city}}, of which wells
{\EM{men of Israel}} were seen to draw water by stealth,
{\EM{or privily}}, rather to refresh
{\EM{them}} than to drink.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}But the sons of Ammon and of Moab nighed to Holofernes, and they said
{\EM{to him}}, The sons of Israel trust not in spear and arrow, but hills
{\ADD{[or the mountains]}} defend them, and little hills set in the rock of stone make them strong.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}Therefore that thou mayest over-come them without assailing of battle, set thou
{\ADD{[or put]}} keepers of
{\EM{their}} wells, that they draw not
{\EM{water}} of those
{\ADD{[or them]}}; and thou shalt slay them without sword, either certainly when they be made faint
{\ADD{[or wearied]}}{\EM{for default of water}}, they shall betake
{\EM{to thee}} their city, the which
{\EM{city, for it is set}} in the hills, they guess it may not be overcome.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And these words pleased before Holofernes, and before all his knights; and he ordained by compass by each well an hundred men.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And when by twenty days the keeping of the wells was fulfilled, the cisterns and the gatherings of waters failed to all the men
{\EM{of Israel}} dwelling in Bethulia
{\ADD{[or to all the dwellers in Bethulia]}}, so that there was not
{\EM{of water}} within the city, whereof they should be fulfilled, namely one day, for the water was given by measure to the people each day.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Then all men and women, young men and eld, and little children, were gathered together to Uzziah,
{\EM{the chief priest}}, and all
{\EM{they}} said together with one voice,


\par }{\PP \VS{13}The Lord deem betwixt us and thee, for thou, not willing to speak peaceably with the men of Assyria, hast done evil things against us, and for this thing God hath sold us into the hands of them.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And therefore there is none that helpeth us, when we be cast down in thirst, and in great loss before their eyes.
{\ADD{[And therefore there is not that helpeth, when we be thrown down before the eyes of them in thirst, and in great perdition.]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And now
{\EM{therefore}} gather ye together all men, that be in
{\EM{this}} city, that all we peoples betake us-selves by free will to Holofernes.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}It is better that we
{\EM{be made}} prisoners
{\ADD{[or captive]}},
{\EM{and}} bless God and live, then that we die
{\EM{thus}}, and we be shame
{\ADD{[or reproof]}} to each man, and since we see our wives and our young children die
{\EM{for default}}, before our eyes.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}We call into witnessing
{\ADD{[or to witness]}} today heaven and earth, and the God of our fathers, that punisheth us after our sins, that now ye betake
{\EM{this}} city into the hands of the chivalry of Holofernes, and that our end be
{\EM{made}} short in the sharpness of sword, which
{\EM{end}} is
{\EM{now}} made longer in the dryness
{\ADD{[or the drought]}} of thirst.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}And when they had said these things, great weeping and yelling was made of all men in the great church, and by many hours they cried with one voice to the Lord, and said,


\par }{\PP \VS{19}We and our fathers have sinned, we have done unjustly
{\ADD{[or unright-wisely]}}, and we have done wickedness.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}Thou,
{\EM{Lord}}, for thou art merciful, have mercy on us, and avenge our wickednesses with thy scourge; and,
{\EM{Lord}}, do not thou betake men acknowledging thee to a people that knoweth not thee,


\par }{\PP \VS{21}that they say not among heathen men
{\ADD{[or Gentiles]}}, Where is the God of them?


\par }{\PP \VS{22}And when they were made faint with these cries, and were made weary with these weepings, and were still, Uzziah rose up, all beshed with tears, and said,


\par }{\PP \VS{23}Brethren, be ye patient, and by these five days abide we the mercy of the Lord;


\par }{\PP \VS{24}for in hap he shall cut
{\ADD{[or put]}} away his indignation, and he shall give glory to his name.


\par }{\PP \VS{25}Soothly if when these five days be passed, help cometh not, we shall do these words which ye have spoken.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 8}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it was done, when Judith, the widow, had heard these words, which was the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Oziel, the son of Elkiah, the son of Ananias, the son of Gideon, the son of Raphain, the son of Ahitub, the son of Elijah, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Salamiel, the son of Sarasadai, the son of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And her husband was Manasseh, that was dead in the days of barley harvest;


\par }{\PP \VS{3}for he stood busily over men binding together reaps
{\ADD{[or sheaves]}} in the field, and heat came upon his head, and he was dead in Bethulia his city, and he was buried there with his fathers.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And Judith left of him,
{\EM{or living after him}}, was widow then three years and six months.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And in the higher parts of her house she made to her a privy closet, in which she dwelled close with her damsels
{\ADD{[or her handwomen]}};


\par }{\PP \VS{6}and she had an hair-shirt on her loins, and she fasted all the days of life, except sabbaths, and the beginnings of months
{\ADD{[or new moons]}}, or the first days of the moon, and the feasts of the house of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}And she was of full seemly beholding, to whom her husband had left many riches, and plenteous meine, and possessions full of
{\ADD{[or with]}} droves of oxen, and of flocks of sheep.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And this
{\EM{Judith}} was most famous among all men; for she dreaded God greatly, neither any was that spake of her an evil word.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}Therefore when this Judith had heard, that Uzziah had promised, that when the fifth day was passed, he would betake the city
{\EM{to Holofernes}}, she sent to the priests Chabris and Charmis.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And they came to her; and she said to them, What is this word, in which Uzziah hath consented to betake the city to men of Assyria, if within five days help come not to us?


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And who be ye that tempt the Lord?


\par }{\PP \VS{12}This is no word that stirreth mercy; but rather it stirreth
{\EM{God’s}} wrath, and kindleth
{\EM{his}} madness.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Have ye set a time of the mercy doing of the Lord, and in your will have ye set a day to him?
{\ADD{[Ye have set a time of mercy doing of the Lord, and in your doom ye have ordained a day to him.]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{14}But for the Lord is patient, do we penance for this sin, and ask we with tears his forgiveness;


\par }{\PP \VS{15}for God shall not menace
{\ADD{[or threaten]}} so as man, neither as a son of man he shall be inflamed to wrathfulness
{\ADD{[or to wrath]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And therefore meek we our souls to him, and in a contrite spirit and made meek serve we to him;


\par }{\PP \VS{17}and say we weeping to the Lord, that after his will so he do his mercy with us; and as our heart is troubled
{\ADD{[or disturbed]}} in the pride of
{\EM{our enemies}}, so have we glory in our meekness.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}For we have not pursued
{\ADD{[or followed]}} the sins of our fathers, that forsook their God, and worshipped alien gods;


\par }{\PP \VS{19}for which great trespass they were given to their enemies into sword, and into raven, and into confusion; but we know not another God besides him.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}Therefore, we being meek, abide we his comfort, and he shall seek,
{\EM{or avenge}}, our blood of the torments
{\ADD{[or from the tormenting]}} of our enemies; and he shall make meek all folks
{\ADD{[or all Gentiles]}}, whichever have risen against us; and the Lord God shall make them without honour.


\par }{\PP \VS{21}And now, brethren, for ye be priests in the people of God, and the soul of them hangeth of you, raise ye up their hearts
{\EM{to God}} at your speech, that they be mindful, that our fathers were tempted, that they should be proved, whether they worshipped God verily
{\ADD{[or if verily they praised their God]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{22}They owe to be mindful, how our father Abraham was tempted, or assayed, and
{\EM{how}} he was proved by many tribulations, and he was made the friend of God.


\par }{\PP \VS{23}So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that pleased the Lord, passed forth faithfully by many tribulations.


\par }{\PP \VS{24}And they that received not temptations with the dread of the Lord, and brought forth their unpatience, and the shame
{\ADD{[or the reproof]}} of their grutching against the Lord,


\par }{\PP \VS{25}were destroyed of a destroyer, and they perished of serpents.


\par }{\PP \VS{26}And therefore avenge we not us
{\ADD{[or ourselves]}} for these things which we suffer;


\par }{\PP \VS{27}but areckon we, that these same torments be less than our sins, and believe we, as servants of the Lord that be chastised, that the beatings, or the torments,
{\ADD{[or the scourges]}} of the Lord be come to
{\EM{our}} amending, and not to our perdition.


\par }{\PP \VS{28}And Uzziah and the priests said to Judith, All
{\EM{these}} things, that thou hast spoken, be sooth, and no reproving is in thy words.


\par }{\PP \VS{29}Now therefore pray thou for us, for thou art an holy woman, and dreading God.


\par }{\PP \VS{30}And Judith said to them, As ye know, that this thing, that I might speak, is of God,


\par }{\PP \VS{31}so prove ye, if this that I have purposed to do, is of God, and pray ye, that God make steadfast my counsel.


\par }{\PP \VS{32}Ye shall stand at the gate this night, and I shall go out or shall go forth with my free handmaid; and pray ye, that, as ye said, the Lord behold his people Israel
{\EM{these}} five days.


\par }{\PP \VS{33}But I desire not, that ye inquire my doing, and till I tell to you, none other thing be done or be there done none other thing
{\EM{of you}}, no but prayer for me to our Lord God
{\ADD{[or to the Lord our God]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{34}And Uzziah, the prince of Judah, said to her, Go thou in peace, and the Lord be with thee in the vengeance
{\ADD{[or the avenging]}} of our enemies. And they,
{\EM{Uzziah and the priests}}, turned, and went away.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 9}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And while they went away, Judith entered into her oratory, and she clothed herself with an hair-shirt, and putted ashes upon her head; and she bowed down herself to the Lord, and cried to the Lord, and said,


\par }{\PP \VS{2}Lord God of my father Simeon, which gavest to him a sword into defense of aliens, that were defoulers in their defouling, and made naked the hip of a virgin
{\ADD{[or the maiden]}} into
{\EM{her own}} confusion;


\par }{\PP \VS{3}and thou gavest the women of them into prey, and the daughters of them into captivity, and all the prey into parting
{\ADD{[or division]}} to thy servants, that loved fervently thy fervent love; Lord, I beseech
{\EM{thee}}, help thou me a widow.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}For thou madest the former things, and those things thou thoughtest to make afterward, and this thing is made
{\EM{to us}}, which thou wouldest.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}For all thy ways be ready, and thou hast set thy dooms in thine
{\EM{own}} purveyance.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Behold thou the strengths
{\ADD{[or the tents]}} of the men of Assyria now, as then thou vouchedest safe to behold the strengths
{\ADD{[or the tents]}} of the men of Egypt, when they came armed after thy servants, and trusted in
{\EM{their}} chariots
{\ADD{[or four-horsed carts]}}, and in the multitude of their knights, and in the multitude of
{\EM{their}} warriors
{\ADD{[or fighters]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}But thou beheldest on the powers of them, and darknesses made them faint;
{\ADD{[But thou beheld upon the tents of them, and darknesses over-travailed them;]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{8}the bottom of the sea held their feet, and waters covered them.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}Lord, also these men be made so, that trust in their multitude, or Lord, be these men made also in like manner, which trust in their multitude, and in their chariots, and in
{\EM{their}} sharp shafts without iron
{\ADD{[or in weapons]}}, and in their arrows; and have vain glory in their spears;


\par }{\PP \VS{10}and they know not, that thou thyself art our God, that all-breakest battles from the beginning, and the Lord is name to thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}Raise up thine arm,
{\EM{that is, thy power}}, as
{\EM{thou didest}} at
{\ADD{[or from]}} the beginning, and hurtle down the power of them in thy virtue, or in thy virtue hurledest down the power of them; the power of them fall it down in thy wrathfulness, which promise them{\ADD{[selves]}} to defoul thine holy things, and to defoul
{\ADD{[or to pollute]}} the tabernacle of thy name, or which promise{\ADD{[d]}} them{\ADD{[selves]}} to defoul the tabernacle of thy name, and to cast
{\ADD{[or to throw]}} down with their sword the horn or the might of thine altar.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Lord, make thou, that the pride of them be cut off
{\ADD{[or cut away]}} with their own sword;


\par }{\PP \VS{13}{\EM{and}} be
{\EM{Holofernes}} taken with the snare of his eyes in me; and thou shalt smite him with the lips of my charity,
{\EM{that is, by my sweet words, and showing love}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}Give,
{\EM{Lord}}, thou to me steadfastness in soul
{\ADD{[or in will]}}, that I despise him and his virtue or his power, and destroy him
{\ADD{[or turn him upside-down]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}For it shall be a memorial or a mindfulness to thy name, when the hands of a woman have cast
{\ADD{[or have thrown]}} him down.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}For why, Lord, thy virtue or thy power is not in multitude, neither thy will is in the strengths of horses; and proud spirits pleased not thee at the beginning
{\ADD{[or nor proud men pleased to thee from the beginning]}}, but the prayer of meek men and mild hath ever{\ADD{[more]}} pleased thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}God of heavens, thou art Creator of waters, and Lord of all creatures or of each creature, hear thou me wretched
{\EM{woman}} praying, and trusting of thy mercy.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}Lord, have thou mind of thy testament, and give a word in my mouth
{\EM{to speak}}, and make thou strong the counsel
{\EM{of thee}} in mine heart, that thine house dwell perfectly in thine hallowing;


\par }{\PP \VS{19}and that all folks know, that thou art God, and that none other is except thee.
{\ADD{[and all Gentiles know, for thou art God, and there is none other besides thee.]}}




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 10}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it was done, when
{\EM{Judith}} had ceased to cry to the Lord, she rose up from the place, in which she lay bowed down to the Lord.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And she called her free handmaid, and came down into her house; and she took away from herself the hair-shirt, and unclothed herself from the clothing of her widowhood.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And she washed her body, and anointed her{\ADD{[self]}} with best myrrh, and she setted
{\ADD{[or pleated]}} the hair of her head, and setted a mitre on her head, and she clothed her with the clothes of her gladness, and clothed her feet with sandals; and she took the ornaments of arms, and lilies, and earrings, and rings, and she adorned herself with all her adornments or ornaments.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}To whom also the Lord gave brightness or fairness, for all this ornament
{\ADD{[or composition]}} hanged not of lechery
{\ADD{[or lust]}}, but of virtue; and therefore the Lord made large this fairness on her, that by uncomparable fairness, or fairness that might not be comparisoned, she appeared
{\EM{seemly}} to the eyes of all men
{\ADD{[or she appeared to the eyes of all men with fairness uncomparable]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And then she putted
{\ADD{[or put]}} upon her free handmaid a bottle of wine
{\EM{to bear with her}}, and a vessel of oil, and meat made of meal
{\ADD{[or pottage]}}, and dried figs, and loaves, and cheese, and they went forth.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}And when they were come to the gate of the city, they found Uzziah and the priests of the city abiding
{\EM{her}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}And when they had seen her, they were astonied and wondered
{\ADD{[or marvelled]}} full much on her fairness.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}Nevertheless they asked her nothing, and they let
{\EM{her}} pass forth, and said, The God of our fathers give grace to thee, and make strong with his virtue all the counsel of thine heart, and Jerusalem have glory on thee, and thy name be in the number of holy and just men
{\ADD{[or be thy name in the number of saints and rightwise men]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And all they, that were there, said with one voice, Be it done! be it done!


\par }{\PP \VS{10}Certainly Judith
{\ADD{[or Then Judith]}} prayed the Lord, and she passed forth through the gates, and her handmaid with her.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And it was done, when she came down off the hill about the rising of the day, the spyers
{\ADD{[or the spies]}} of Assyrians met her, and they held her, and said, From whence comest thou, either whither goest thou?


\par }{\PP \VS{12}And she answered, I am a daughter of Hebrews, and therefore I have fled from the face of them, for I know, that it shall come, that they shall be given to you into prey, for they have despised you, and for they would not betake themselves willfully
{\EM{to you}}, that they should have found grace in your sight.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}And for this cause I thought within me, and I said, I shall go to the face or to the presence of the prince Holofernes, for to show to him the privates of
{\EM{the men of Israel}}, and I shall show to him, by what entry he may get them, so that not one man of his host fall down
{\ADD{[or so that there fall not one man of his host]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And when those men had heard the words of her, they beheld her face, and wondering was in their eyes, for they wondered greatly on her fairness
{\ADD{[or they marvelled full much on the fairness of her]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And they said to her, Thou hast kept thy life, for thou hast found such a counsel, that thou wouldest come down to our lord.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And know thou this thing, that, when thou standest in his sight, he shall do well to thee, and thou shalt be most acceptable
{\ADD{[or most accepted]}} in his heart. And they led her to the tabernacle of Holofernes, and they showed her
{\EM{to him}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And when she had entered before his face, anon Holofernes was taken by
{\ADD{[or caught in]}} his eyes
{\EM{with lust}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}And his knights said to him, Who shall despise the people of Jews, that have so fair women, that we owe not to fight skillfully against them for these women?


\par }{\PP \VS{19}And Judith saw Holofernes sitting within a curtain,
{\EM{that is, in a chair, covered with such a curtain}},
{\ADD{[or Judith seeing Holofernes sitting in the canopy]}}, that was wide beneath, and narrow or sharp above, that was woven of purple and gold, and smaragdus, and most precious stones,


\par }{\PP \VS{20}and when she had looked into his face, she worshipped
{\ADD{[or honoured]}} him, and bowed down herself on the earth; and the servants of Holofernes raised her up, for their lord commanded
{\EM{so}}.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 11}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then Holofernes said to her, Be thou comforted, and do not thou dread in thine heart, for I never annoyed man, that would serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king
{\EM{of Assyria}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And if thy people had not despised me, I had not raised mine hand or my power upon it.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}But now say to me, for what cause wentest thou away from them, and
{\EM{why}} it pleased thee to come to us.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And Judith said, Take thou the words of thine handmaid; for, if thou pursuest
{\ADD{[or followest]}} the words of thine handmaid, the Lord shall make
{\ADD{[or shall do]}} a perfect thing with thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Forsooth Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
{\ADD{[the]}} earth, liveth, and his virtue or his power liveth, which is in thee to the chastising of all souls or all lives erring; for not only by thee men shall serve him, but also beasts of the field shall obey to him
{\EM{by thee}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}For the prudence of thy soul is told to all folks; and it is showed
{\ADD{[or it is open]}} to all the world, that thou alone art good and mighty in all his realm; and thy teaching is preached in all provinces.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Neither this thing is hid, which Achior hath spoken, neither that thing is unknown, which thou commandedest to befall to him.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}For it is known, that our God is so offended by sins, that he hath sent by his prophets to the people, that he would betake them
{\EM{to their enemies}} for their sins.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And for the sons of Israel know, that they have offended the Lord their God, the trembling of him
{\ADD{[or his trembling]}} is upon them.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}Furthermore also hunger hath assailed them, and for dryness
{\ADD{[or the drought]}} of water they be reckoned
{\ADD{[or counted]}} now among dead men.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And this thing they ordain, that they slay their beasts, and drink their blood;


\par }{\PP \VS{12}and they have thought to give these holy things of their Lord to buy with, wheat, wine, and oil, which God commanded to be not touched, and they will waste the things, which they ought not to touch with hands; therefore for they do these things, it is certain that they shall be given into perdition.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Which thing I, thine handmaid, know, and
{\EM{therefore}} I fled from them, and the Lord hath sent me to tell these same things to thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}For I, thine handmaid, worship God, also now with thee; and thine handmaid shall go forth, and I shall pray God;


\par }{\PP \VS{15}and he shall say to me, when he shall yield to them their sin; and I shall come, and tell to thee, so that I bring thee through the midst
{\ADD{[or by the middle]}} of Jerusalem, and thou shalt have all the people of Israel as sheep to which is no shepherd, and there shall not bark, or chide,
{\EM{either speak foul}}, against thee namely one;


\par }{\PP \VS{16}for these things be said to me by the purveyance of God.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And for God is wroth to them, I am sent to tell to thee these same things.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}Certainly all these words pleased before Holofernes, and before his servants; and they wondered
{\ADD{[or marvelled]}} at the wisdom of her;


\par }{\PP \VS{19}and one said to another
{\ADD{[or the one said to the tother]}}, There is not such a woman on earth in sight, in fairness, and in wit of words.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}And Holofernes said to her, God did well, that sent thee before the people, that thou give or betake it into mine hands;


\par }{\PP \VS{21}and for thy promise is good, if thy God doeth these things to me, he shall be also my God, and thou shalt be great in the house of Nebuchad-nezzar, and thy name shall be named in all earth.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 12}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then Holofernes commanded her to enter, where his treasures were kept, and he commanded her to dwell there; and he ordained, what should be given to her of his feast.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}To whom Judith answered, and said, Now I may not eat of these things, which thou commandedest to be given to me, lest offence come on me; but I shall eat of these things, which I have brought with me.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}To whom Holofernes said, If these things fail, which thou hast brought with thee, what shall we then do to thee?


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And Judith said, Lord, thy soul liveth, for thine handmaid shall not spend all these things, till
{\ADD{[or to the time that]}} God shall do in mine hands these things which I have thought
{\EM{to do}}. And his servants led her into the tabernacle, wither he had commanded.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And she asked
{\EM{of Holofernes}}, while she entered, that freedom should be given to her to go out to prayer, in the night, and before the light
{\EM{of the day came}}, to beseech the Lord.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}And he commanded to his chamberlains, that, as it pleased her, she should go out, and enter
{\ADD{[or come]}} in, for to pray her God by three days.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}And she went out or went forth in nights into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a well of water.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And as she went up
{\EM{there}}, she prayed the Lord God of Israel, that he would dress
{\ADD{[or govern]}} her way to the deliverance of his people.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And she entered in, and dwelled clean in the tabernacle, till that she took her meat in the eventide.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And it was done in the fourth day, Holofernes made a supper to his servants, and he said to Bagoas, the chamberlain
{\ADD{[or gelding]}}, Go thou, and counsel
{\ADD{[or sweetly move]}} that Hebrew woman, that she consent willfully to dwell with me.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}For it is a foul thing with men of Assyria, if a woman scorn a man, in her doing, and that she pass free from him.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Then Bagoas entered in to Judith, and said, A good damsel be not ashamed to enter in to my lord, that she be honoured before his face, and that she eat with him, and drink wine with gladness.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}To whom Judith answered, Who am I, that I against-say my lord?


\par }{\PP \VS{14}I shall do all things, that shall be good and best before his eyes. And whatever thing pleaseth him, this thing shall be best to me in all the days of my life.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And she rose up, and adorned herself with her clothes, and entered, and stood before the face of Holofernes.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And the heart of Holofernes was stirred
{\EM{to lust}}; for he was burning in
{\EM{fleshly}} covetousness
{\ADD{[or lust]}} of her.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And Holofernes said to her, Drink thou now, and take meat in gladness
{\ADD{[or Drink now, and sit down in joy]}}; for thou hast found grace before me.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}And Judith said, Lord, I shall drink, for my soul is magnified today before all the days of my life.


\par }{\PP \VS{19}And she took, and ate, and drank before him those things, which her handmaid had made ready to her.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}And Holofernes was made glad
{\ADD{[or merry]}} towards her, and he drank full much wine, how much he had never drank in one day in his life.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 13}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Forsooth as
{\EM{soon as}} eventide was made, his servants hasted to their inns
{\ADD{[or to their harbourgeries]}},
{\EM{that is, tents}}; and Bagoas closed together the doors of the closet
{\EM{where Holofernes lay}}, and went forth.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}For all men were made faint,
{\EM{or drunk}}, of wine;


\par }{\PP \VS{3}and Judith alone was there within the closet
{\ADD{[or the privy chamber]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}Certainly Holofernes lay in the bed, asleeped
{\ADD{[or asleep]}} with full much drunkenness.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And Judith said to her damsel, that she should stand withoutforth before the door of the closet
{\ADD{[or the privy chamber]}}, and espy
{\ADD{[or wait about]}},
{\EM{that no man were nigh}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}And Judith stood before the bed
{\EM{of Holofernes}}, and she prayed with tears, and with moving of
{\EM{her}} lips she said in silence,


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Lord God of Israel, confirm me,
{\EM{or make me stable}},
{\ADD{[or Confirm me, Lord God of Israel]}}, and in this time behold thou to the works of mine hands, that, as thou hast promised, thou raise up Jerusalem thy city; and that I perform this thing, which thing I believing thought to may be done by thee.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And when she had said this, she nighed
{\ADD{[or went]}} to the pillar that was at the head of his bed, and she loosened his sword, that hanged
{\ADD{[or hung]}}{\EM{there}} bound on the pillar.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And when she had drawn out of the sheath that
{\EM{sword}}, she took the hair of his head; and said, Lord God of Israel, confirm me in this hour.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And she smote twice on
{\ADD{[or into]}} his neck, and she cutted off his head; and she took away his curtain
{\ADD{[or his canopy]}} from the pillars, and she wallowed away his body headless.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}And after a little
{\ADD{[while]}} she went out, and she betook the head of Holofernes to her handmaid, and commanded, that she should put it into her scrip.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}And the two women went out or went forth by their custom, as to prayer, and they passed the tents,
{\EM{that is, host, of Assyrians}}, and they compassed the valley, and came to the gate of the city.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}And Judith said afar to the keepers of the walls, Open ye the gates, for God is with us, that hath done great virtue in Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}And it was done, when the men had heard her voice, they called the priests of the city.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And all men from the least till to the most ran to her; for they
{\EM{had}} hoped not
{\ADD{[or no more]}}, that she should come now.


\par }{\PP \VS{16}And they tended lights, and all men encompassed about her. And she went up into an higher place, and commanded silence to be made. And when all men were still
{\ADD{[or when all had held their peace]}}, Judith said,


\par }{\PP \VS{17}Praise ye the Lord our God, that hath not forsaken them that trust in him, and by me, his handmaid,


\par }{\PP \VS{18}he hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel, and in this night he hath slain in mine hand the enemy of his people.


\par }{\PP \VS{19}And she took out of the scrip the head of Holofernes, and showed it to them, and said, Lo! the head of Holofernes, prince of the chivalry of Assyrians; and lo! his curtain
{\ADD{[or the canopy of him]}}, in which he lay in his drunkenness, where also the Lord our God killed him by the hand of a woman.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}Forsooth the Lord God liveth, for his angel hath kept me, both going from hence, and dwelling there, and turning again from thence hither; and the Lord hath not suffered his handmaid to be defouled, but without defouling
{\ADD{[or pollution]}} of sin he hath again-called me to you, and I have joy in victory of the Lord or in his victory, and in my escaping, and in your deliverance.


\par }{\PP \VS{21}Acknowledge ye all to him or to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is into without end.


\par }{\PP \VS{22}Soothly all men worshipped the Lord, and said to her, The Lord hath blessed thee in his virtue, for by thee he hath brought to nought our enemies.


\par }{\PP \VS{23}And then Uzziah, the prince of the people of Israel, said to Judith, Daughter, thou art blessed of the high Lord God, before all women on earth.


\par }{\PP \VS{24}Blessed be the Lord God, that made heaven and earth, and that dressed thee into the wounds of the head of the prince of our enemies;


\par }{\PP \VS{25}for today he hath magnified so thy name, that thy praising go not away from the mouth of men, that shall be mindful of the virtue of the Lord without end; for which thou sparedest not thy life for the anguishes and tribulations of thy kin
{\ADD{[or thy kindred]}}, but helpedest the falling before the sight of our God, or for which men thou sparedest not thy life,
{\EM{but puttedest it}} for the anguishes and tribulations of thy kin, and thou hast holpen the falling
{\EM{of the people}} before the sight of our God.


\par }{\PP \VS{26}And all the people said, Amen! amen! or Be it
{\EM{thus done}}! be it
{\EM{thus done}}!
{\ADD{[or So be it! so be it!]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{27}And then Achior was called, and he came; and Judith said to him, That God of Israel, to whom thou gavest witnessing, that he avengeth him of his enemies, hath cut off the head of all unbelieveful men in this night by mine hand.


\par }{\PP \VS{28}And that thou prove that it is so, lo! the head of Holofernes, which in the despite of his pride despised God of Israel, and he menaced
{\ADD{[or threatened]}} death to thee, and said, When the people of Israel is taken, I shall command thy sides to be pierced with a sword.


\par }{\PP \VS{29}And when Achior saw the head of Holofernes, he was anguished for dread, and he fell down on his face upon the earth, and his soul suffered anesthetizing,
{\EM{that is, swooning}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{30}And after that he had taken again his spirit, and was comforted, he felled down at the feet of Judith, and worshipped
{\ADD{[or honoured]}} her, and said,


\par }{\PP \VS{31}Blessed art thou of thy God in all the tabernacles of Jacob; for in all folk, that shall hear thy name, God of Israel shall be magnified in thee.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 14}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Forsooth Judith said to all the people, Brethren, hear ye
{\ADD{[or Heareth, brethren]}}; hang ye up this head upon your walls.


\par }{\PP \VS{2}And it shall be, when the sun riseth, each man take his armours
{\ADD{[or his arms]}}, and go ye out with fierce-ness, not that ye go all down beneath
{\EM{the hill}}, but as
{\EM{men}} making assault.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}And then it shall be needed, that the spyers
{\ADD{[or the spies]}} of the land flee to raise up their prince to battle.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And when the dukes of them shall run together to the tabernacle of Holofernes, and find him headless
{\ADD{[or beheaded]}}, wallowed
{\ADD{[or wrapped]}} in his blood, dread shall fall down upon them.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And when ye know that they flee, go ye securely after them, for God shall all-break them
{\ADD{[or tread them]}} under your feet.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Then Achior saw the virtue that God of Israel had done, and he forsook the custom of heathenness, and he believed to God; and he circumcised the flesh of his rod, and he was put to the people of Israel, and all the after-coming of his kin till into this day or unto this time,
{\ADD{[or unto the day that is now]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}Forsooth anon as the day rose, they hanged the head of Holofernes on the wall; and each man took his armours
{\ADD{[or his arms]}}, and they went out with great noise and yelling.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}Which thing the spyers
{\ADD{[or the spies]}} saw, and they ran to the tabernacle of Holofernes.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}And they, that were in the tabernacle, came, and made noise before the entering of the bed
{\ADD{[or the in-coming of the privy chamber]}}{\EM{of Holofernes}}, and they imagined by crafty unrestfulness for cause of up-raising
{\ADD{[him]}}, that Holofernes should awake not of the raisers, but of
{\EM{the noise of}}{\ADD{[the]}} sounders.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}For no man was hardy to open the tabernacle of the virtue,
{\EM{that is, of the prince of the chivalry}}, of Assyrians by knocking, either by entering.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}But when his dukes, and
{\EM{his}} tribunes
{\ADD{[or the leaders of thousands]}}, and all the greater men of the host of the king of Assyria were come, they said to the chamberlains,


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Enter ye, and raise ye him up; for mice be gone out of the caves, and they dare move us
{\ADD{[or call forth us]}} to battle.


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Then Bagoas entered into his closet
{\ADD{[or into his privy chamber]}}, and he stood before the curtain
{\EM{of his bed}}, and he made beating together with his hands; for he supposed him to sleep with Judith.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}But when by the wit,
{\EM{or listening}}, of his ears he perceived not any stirring
{\ADD{[or moving]}} of Holofernes lying
{\EM{there}}, he came nigh
{\EM{and nighed}} to the curtain, and he drew
{\EM{it}} up or he raised it, and he saw the dead body of Holofernes without head, defouled
{\ADD{[or rotting]}} in his blood, and lying upon the earth, and he cried
{\ADD{[out]}} with great voice with weeping, and rent his clothes.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And Bagoas entered into the tabernacle of Judith, and found not her
{\ADD{[or found her not]}}, and anon he went out to the people,


\par }{\PP \VS{16}and said, An Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the house of king Nebuchadnezzar; for lo! Holofernes lieth in the earth, and his head is not with him.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}And when the princes of the virtue or the power of Assyrians had heard this thing, all they rent their clothes, and unsufferable
{\ADD{[or intolerable]}} dread and trembling felled down upon them, and their souls were troubled greatly.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}And uncomparable cry was made by the middle of their tents./And cry that might not be comparisoned was made throughout their tents.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 15}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And when all the host had heard Holofernes beheaded, mind and counsel fled from them, and they shaken by trembling and dread alone or they stirred with only trembling and dread, took the help
{\ADD{[or the succour]}} of flight,


\par }{\PP \VS{2}so that no man spake with his neighbor; but
{\EM{each man}} bowing down his head, and all
{\EM{their}} things were forsaken or left behind them, they were busy to escape the Jews or Hebrews, which they had heard to come armed upon them; and they fled by the ways of fields, and by the paths of little hills.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}Therefore the sons of Israel saw
{\EM{the men of Assyria}} fleeing or flying away, and they pursued
{\ADD{[or followed]}} after them, and came down, and they sounded with trumps, and yelled after them.


\par }{\PP \VS{4}And for the men of Assyria not gathered together went headlong into flight, forsooth the sons of Israel pursuing with a company made feeble all the men
{\EM{of them}}, which they might find.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}And Uzziah sent messengers by all the cities and countries
{\ADD{[or regions]}} of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}Therefore each country and each city
{\ADD{[or And so all regions and all cities]}} sent forth chosen young men armed after them; and they pursued those Assyrians with the sharpness of sword, till they came to the last part of their coasts.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}And the residue men, or the remnant, of the sons of Israel, that were
{\EM{left}} in
{\EM{the city of}} Bethulia, entered into the tents of Assyrians, and took away with them the prey, which Assyrians fleeing had left, and
{\EM{men of Israel}} were greatly charged
{\EM{with chattel}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}And they that were over-comers,
{\EM{in their pursuit}} turned again to
{\EM{the city}} Bethulia, or But they that were overcomers, turned again to Bethulia, and they took away with them all things whatever were of those Assyrians, so that there was no number in sheep, and beasts, and in all moveable things of them,
{\EM{so}} that from the least unto the most, all men
{\EM{of Israel}} were made rich of the preys.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}Forsooth Joakim, the highest
{\ADD{[or the high]}} bishop came from Jerusalem into Bethulia with all the priests, to see Judith.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}And when she had gone out to him, all they blessed her with one voice, and said, Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, and thou art the gladness of Israel, thou art the honour of our people, which hast done manly,


\par }{\PP \VS{11}and
{\EM{certainly}} thine heart was comforted
{\EM{in God}}, for thou lovedest chastity, and after thine husband thou knew not another man; therefore and the hand of the Lord comforted thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed
{\ADD{[into]}} without end.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}And all the people said, Be it
{\EM{done}}! be it
{\EM{done}}! or Amen! amen!


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Forsooth by thirty days scarcely were the spoils of men of Assyria gathered up of the men of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}Certainly they gave to Judith all things, that were proved to be property of Holofernes, in gold, in silver, and in clothes, and in gems, and in all appurtenance of household; and all things were given to her of the people.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}And all peoples, with women, and virgins, and with young men, made joy, in organs and harps.




\par }\Chap{CHAPTER 16}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then Judith sang this song to the Lord,


\par }{\PP \VS{2}and said, Begin ye
{\EM{to praise God}} in tympans
{\ADD{[or timbrels]}}; sing ye to the Lord in cymbals; sing ye sweetly a new psalm to him; fully make ye joy
{\ADD{[or full out joyeth]}}, and inwardly call ye his name.


\par }{\PP \VS{3}The Lord all-breaketh battles, the Lord is name to him;


\par }{\PP \VS{4}which hath set his castles,
{\EM{that is, angels}}, or his strengths, in the midst of his people
{\ADD{[or that put his tents in the middle of his people]}}, for to deliver us from the hand of all our enemies.


\par }{\PP \VS{5}Assur came from the hills, from the north, in the multitude of his strength; whose multitude stopped strands
{\ADD{[or the streams]}}, and the horses of them covered valleys.


\par }{\PP \VS{6}And he said, that he should burn my coasts, and slay my young men with sword, to give my young children into prey, and the virgins
{\EM{thereof}} into captivity.


\par }{\PP \VS{7}But the Lord Almighty annoyed him, and betook him into the hands of a woman, and she shamed
{\ADD{[or confounded]}} him.


\par }{\PP \VS{8}For the mighty
{\EM{prince}} of them felled not down
{\EM{by strength}} of young men, neither the sons of giants killed him, neither high giants putted them-selves to him; but Judith, the daughter of Merari, overcame him by the fairness of her face.


\par }{\PP \VS{9}For she unclothed her from the cloth of
{\ADD{[her]}} widowhood, and clothed her with
{\ADD{[or in]}} the cloth of gladness, into the full out joying of the sons of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{10}She anointed her face with ointment, and she bound together the tresses of her hairs with a coronal
{\ADD{[or a mitre]}}, to deceive him.


\par }{\PP \VS{11}Her sandals ravished his eyes, her fairness made his soul captive; with a sword she cut off his neck.


\par }{\PP \VS{12}Men of Persia had hideousness of her steadfastness, and men of Media of her hardiness.
{\ADD{[The Persians dreaded her steadfastness, and Medes her hardiness.]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{13}Then the strong powers of the men of Assyria
{\ADD{[or Assyrians]}} yelled
{\EM{for dread}}, when my meek men
{\EM{of Israel}}, waxing dry for thirst, appeared
{\EM{to them}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{14}The sons of young women have pricked them, and they have killed them as children fleeing; they perished in battle from the face of my God
{\ADD{[or from the face of my Lord]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{15}Sing we an hymn to the Lord, and sing we a new hymn to our God.
{\ADD{[A new hymn sing we to the Lord our God.]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{16}Lord God, thou art a great Lord, and full clear
{\ADD{[or all clear]}}{\EM{art thou}} in thy virtue, whom no man may over-come.


\par }{\PP \VS{17}Each creature of thine serve thee, for thou saidest, and
{\EM{so all}} things were made; thou sentest thy Spirit, and
{\EM{then all}} things were made of nought
{\ADD{[or be formed]}}; and none is that against-standeth thy commandment.


\par }{\PP \VS{18}For hills shall be moved from the foundaments with waters; and stones shall float abroad as wax before thy face
{\ADD{[or stones as wax shall melt before thy face]}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{19}And they that dread thee, shall be great with thee by all things.


\par }{\PP \VS{20}Woe to the folk rising up upon my kin
{\ADD{[or my kindred]}}; for the Lord Almighty shall take vengeance in them, and in the day of doom he shall visit them.


\par }{\PP \VS{21}For he shall give fire and worms in the fleshes of them
{\ADD{[or in their flesh]}}, that they be burnt, and live, and they feel
{\EM{the fierceness thereof}} till into without end
{\ADD{[or unto evermore.]}}


\par }{\PP \VS{22}And it was done after these things, all the people after the victory came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord; and anon as they were cleansed
{\ADD{[or were purified]}}{\EM{after the law}}, all men offered burnt sacrifices, and avows
{\ADD{[or vows]}}, and their promises.


\par }{\PP \VS{23}Forsooth Judith gave
{\EM{then}} into the cursing of forgetting all the armours
{\ADD{[or the arms]}} of battle of Holofernes, which the people had given to her, also the curtain
{\ADD{[or the canopy]}}, which she had taken away.


\par }{\PP \VS{24}Certainly all the people was merry after the face of holy men
{\ADD{[or joyful after the face of saints]}}; and by three months the joy of this victory was hallowed with Judith.


\par }{\PP \VS{25}And after those days each man went again into his own things or into his own
{\EM{dwelling place}},
{\ADD{[or After those days forsooth each went again into his own]}}; and Judith was made great in Bethulia, and she was more clear than all
{\EM{the women}} of the land of Israel.


\par }{\PP \VS{26}For chastity was joined to her virtue
{\EM{of steadfastness}}, so that she knew no man
{\EM{fleshly}} all the days of her life, since Manasseh, her husband, was dead.


\par }{\PP \VS{27}Soothly in feast days she came forth with great glory./In holidays, Judith came forth, and with great glory
{\EM{she was worshipped before other women}}.


\par }{\PP \VS{28}And she dwelled in the house of her husband an hundred years and five; and she let go,
{\EM{or made}}, her handmaid free. And
{\EM{then}} Judith was dead, and she was buried with her husband in Bethulia, or And she was dead, and buried with her husband in Bethulia;


\par }{\PP \VS{29}and all the people bewailed her seven days.


\par }{\PP \VS{30}Forsooth in all the space of her life, there was none that overcame or disturbed Israel, and many years after her death.


\par }{\PP \VS{31}And the day of the victory of this feast is taken of Hebrews,
{\EM{and reckoned}} in the number of holy days, and it is worshipped of the Jews, from that time till into this present day.


\par }