And when Judith, the widow, the daughter of Merari, the son of Idos, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gideon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melchias, the son of Ananias, the son of Nathan, the son of Chalthiel, the son of Simeon, the son of Reuben, heard these words,

Her husband, Manasses, had died in the days of the barley harvest, and the mower mowed them down, and they perished by serpents.

For he was pressing the binders of sheaves in the field, and the heat smote his head, and he died in his city Bethulia, and was buried there with his fathers. On this night, therefore, you shall stand at the gate, and I will go out with my handmaiden; and pray ye that the Lord may look upon his people Israel for five days, as ye have said. Then Ozias, the prince of Judah, said unto her, Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take vengeance on our enemies. And they departed, returning.

And Judith had remained a widow for three years and six months.

And she had prepared for herself a secret chamber in the upper part of her house, wherein she dwelt with her handmaidens, and kept it closed.

And she had sackcloth upon her loins, and she fasted all the days of her life, save the Sabbaths and the new moons and the feasts of Israel.

And she was exceeding beautiful of countenance, and her husband had left her ample wealth, and many servants, and lands full of oxen and flocks of sheep.

And she had a good report among all people, because she feared the Lord exceedingly, and no one spoke an ill word concerning her.

This woman, therefore, when she heard that Ozias had promised to deliver up the city after five days, sent for the elders Chabris and Carmis.

And they came to her, and she said to them, What is this thing that Ozias has agreed to: to deliver the city to the Assyrians if help does not come to us within five days?

Who are ye, that ye should tempt the Lord?

This is not a word that obtains mercy, but rather it provokes wrath and stirs up indignation.

For you have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and appointed Him a day as you wished.

But inasmuch as the Lord is long-suffering, let us repent of this, and seek His forgiveness with tears shed.

For God's threat is not like man's threat, nor does He rage in anger as a son of man.

Therefore let us humble ourselves and worship Him with a humble spirit.

And let us ask the Lord with weeping that He would grant us His mercy according to His will, that we may glory in our humility, even as our hearts were troubled by their pride.

For we have not run after the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God and worshipped strange gods.

Therefore, for that iniquity, they were delivered to the sword, and to plunder, and to shame among their enemies; but we know no God other than Him.

So we hope in humility for His comfort, and He will avenge our blood against the stubbornness of our enemies, and humble all the nations that rise up against us, and our Lord God will put them to shame.

And now, my brethren, since ye are elders in the people of God, and their souls are bound up with you, uplift their hearts with your speech, that they may remember that trials came upon our fathers only so that they might be tested as to whether they would truly worship their God.

For they ought to remember how our father Abraham was tried, and after he was proven by many tribulations, he became the friend of God.

And likewise Isaac, and likewise Jacob, and likewise Moses, and all those with whom God was pleased passed through many tribulations and remained faithful.

But as for those who did not accept afflictions with the fear of the Lord, but showed their impatience and murmured against the Lord,

But as for us now, let us not be impatient in what we suffer.

But let us consider that these chastisements are less than our sins, and believe that the stripes of the Lord by which we are disciplined as servants are for correction, not for destruction.

Then Ozias and the elders said to her, All your words are true, and there is no fault in your sayings.

Now therefore, pray for us, for you are a holy woman, fearing God.

Then Judith said to them, As you know, what you spoke is from God.

Know by experience that what I have purposed is from God, and pray that God may confirm my counsel.

And I do not wish you to inquire about my purpose, and from now until I inform you of it, do nothing but pray for me to the Lord our God.