God works marvels
1 When it was late, the ser vants hurried away. Bagoas dismissed from the presence of his master those who were standing around, and closed the tent from the outside. All the men hurried to bed for they were tired from having drunk too much.
2 So Judith was left alone in the tent with Holo fernes who, sodden with wine, had collapsed onto the bed.
3 Judith told her servant to stand outside the room and watch for her coming out be cause she would go out to pray, as she did each day. She also spoke to Bagoas in much the same way.
4 Everyone left the tent of Holo fernes, not one – small or great – re mained in the room. Judith, then, stood by Holo fernes’ bed and prayed in her heart, “Lord God all-powerful, help me now in what I will do for the glory of Jeru salem.
5 For now is the time to support the cause of your peo ple and to ensure that my undertaking brings about the ruin of the ene mies who are drawn up against us.”
6 Then she moved towards the bedpost near Holofernes’ head and took down the sword and,
7 ap proaching the bed, she seized the hair of his head saying, “O Lord God of Israel, give me strength, this very moment!”
8 Then with all her strength she struck his neck twice and cut off his head.
9 She then rolled his body from the bed and took off the hangings from the columns. Then she went out at once and gave the head of Holofernes to her servant
10 who put it in the bag in which she carried the food. Then they went out together as they used to do for prayer. After they had crossed the camp, they passed round the edge of the ravine, climb ed the mountain to Bethulia and reached the gates of the town.
11 Judith called from a distance to those who were keeping guard at the gates, “Open, open the gates! God, our God, is with us! Today he has once again worked a miracle in Israel and exerted his power against our enemies.”
12 As soon as the towns folk heard her voice, they called the elders and hurried down to the gates of the town.
13 They all ran together, from the smallest to the greatest, for they were waiting for her return. They opened the gates and welcomed the two wo men; then, having lighted a fire so as to see them, they gathered around the two.
14 She said to them in a loud voice, “Praise God, praise him! Praise God who has not withheld his mercy from the House of Israel. This very night he has crushed our enemies by my hand.”
15 And, taking out the head of Holo fernes from the bag, she show ed it to them saying, “Here is the head of Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army, and here are the hangings under which he was lying in his drunkenness. The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman.
16 As truly as the Lord lives, it was my face that seduced him to his undoing, but the Lord has protected me. This man could not sin with me to disgrace or dishonor me.”
17 All the people were greatly amazed, so they bowed down and worshiped God, saying with one voice, “Blessed are you, our God, who today have crushed the enemies of your people.”
Blessed are you among all women
18 Uzziah said to her, “My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth.
And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.
19 Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.
20 May God ensure your everlasting glory, and may he reward and bless you for you have risked your life when your race was humiliated.
You chose instead to do the best before God in order to prevent our downfall.”
And all the people said, “Amen! Amen!”
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Comments Judith, Chapter 13
• 13.1 The whole account that follows emphasizes the vigilant love of God who intervenes when it is necessary and who safely conducts our enterprises, even those apparently doomed to failure when we risk everything to save our brothers and sisters. In this sense it is true. We shall note however, that the trickery of Judith and the incredible rout of the Assyrians after the death of Holofernes are a dream of childish powerlessness. The account was composed after the time of the Maccabees from the memories of a crushed people, unable to resist the oppressor; it originated in the migrant Jewish communities who had lost their taste and capability for an armed struggle. The old dream of a magic resource rises again; here we have a miraculous intervention of God capable of overturning all situations and crushing evil forever.
Here it is easy to see a mixture of the human and the divine: limitless trust in God and the fabulous dreams of a child. Here once more the cross of Jesus and his resurrection, so strong and so discreet, will keep us within reality.
The account rings true however when the triumph of Judith makes little of the prestige and venerability of men, elders or priests, who pass for the leaders of God’s people. It is an act of reparation in favor of women in a thoroughly macho society: God has no thought for these alleged valiant or honored men; all they have to do is applaud an untitled woman.
• 18. May the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. Luke will remember these words and will adapt them for Mary (Lk 1:42). With Luke we easily see in Judith’s victory the image of another victory in which Mary “crushed the head of the serpent” in perfectly welcoming the Son of God and his patient work to redeem the world from the Devil’s hands, as the Bible had announced (Gen 3:15). The hymn we refer to: You are the glory of Israel speaks more truly of Mary than of Judith.