Judith 16:1-20

Common English Bible

Begin to praise my God with drums;
    sing to the Lord with cymbals.
Adapt a psalm for him;
    lift up your praise,
    and call upon his name.
² The Lord is a God who crushes wars.
    He rescued me
    from the hand of my oppressors,
    and brought me into his camp
    in the midst of his people.
³ The Assyrian came from the mountains in the north;
    he came with tens of thousands
    of his warriors;
    their crowd of people
    blocked the ravines,
    and their cavalry covered the hills.
⁴ He bragged that he would
burn my territory,
    kill my young men with the sword,
    throw my infants to the ground,
    take my children as slaves,
    and rape my virgins.
⁵ But the Lord Almighty overthrew them by the hand of a woman.^[a]
6     Their leader didn’t fall to his knees because of young men,
    nor did the sons of the Titans
    strike him down,
    nor did the tall giants assault him.
But Judith, Merari’s daughter,
paralyzed him with her beauty.
⁷     She took off her widow’s clothing
        to lift up the oppressed in Israel.
She put perfume on her face,
⁸     tied a headband around her hair,
    and put on a linen gown to trick him.
⁹     Her sandal captured his eyes;
    her beauty captured his heart,
        and the sword sliced through his neck.
¹⁰ The Persians trembled at her daring,
    and the Medes were troubled
    by her boldness.
¹¹ Then my humbled ones shouted loudly;
    my weak ones cried out,^[b]
        they lifted up their voices,
        and the enemies were overthrown.
¹² Sons of mere girls stabbed them
    and wounded them
    like the children of deserters.
        They perished before
        my Lord’s army.
¹³ I will sing to my God a new song.
Lord, you are great and glorious, marvelous in strength
never to be outdone.
¹⁴ May all of your creation serve you;
    you spoke,
    and they came into being.
    You sent forth your spirit
    and it shaped them;
    there is no one
    who can resist your voice.
¹⁵ The mountains will be shaken from their foundations with the waters;
    rocks will melt like wax before you.
Yet you will show mercy
to those who fear you.
¹⁶ The pleasant fragrance of all offerings
is a small thing to you,
    and the fat of all entirely burned offerings means even less to you.
But those who fear the Lord
are great forever.
¹⁷ How terrible it will be for those nations
who rise up against my people.
    The Lord Almighty will take vengeance upon them on the Judgment Day.
He will send fire and worms
into their flesh,
and they will weep forever with the pain.