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1 And it came to pass, when she had ceased to
cry to the Lord, that she rose from the place wherein she lay prostrate
before the Lord.
2 And she called her maid, and going down
into her house she took off her haircloth, and put away the garments of her
widowhood,
3 And she washed her body, and anointed
herself with the best ointment, and plaited the hair of her head, and put a
bonnet upon her head, and clothed herself with the garments of her gladness,
and put sandals on her feet, and took her bracelets, and lilies, and earlets, and rings, and adorned herself with all her
ornaments.
4 And the Lord also gave her more beauty:
because all this dressing up did not proceed from sensuality, lent from
virtue: and therefore the Lord increased this her beauty, so that she
appeared to all men's eyes incomparably lovely.
5 And she gave to her maid a bottle of wine
to carry, and a vessel of oil, and parched corn, and dry figs, and bread and
cheese, and went out.
6 And when they came to the gate of the city,
they found Ozias, and the ancients of the city
waiting.
7 And when they saw her they were astonished,
and admired her beauty exceedingly.
8 But they asked her no question, only they
let her pass, saying: The God of our fathers give thee grace, and may he
strengthen all the counsel of thy heart with his power, that Jerusalem may
glory in thee, and thy name may be in the number of the holy and just.
9 And they that were there said, all with one
voice: So be it, so be it.
10 But Judith praying to the Lord, passed
through the gates, she and her maid.
11 And it came to pass, when she went down the
hill, about break of day, that the watchmen of the Assyrians met her and
stopped her, saying: Whence comest thou? or whither goest thou?
12 And she answered: I am a daughter of the
Hebrews, and I am fled from them, because I knew they would be made a prey to
you, because they despised you, and would not of their own accord yield
themselves, that they might find mercy in your sight.
13 For this reason I thought with myself,
saying: I will go to the presence of the prince Holofernes,
that I may tell him their secrets, and shew him by
what way he may take them, without the loss of one man of his army.
14 And when the men had heard her words, they
beheld her face, and their eyes were amazed, for they wondered exceedingly at
her beauty.
15 And they said to her: Thou hast saved thy
life by taking this resolution, to come down to our lord.
16 And be assured of this, that when thou shalt stand before him, he will treat thee well, and thou
wilt be most acceptable to his heart. And they brought her to the tent of Holofernes, telling him of her.
17 And when she was come into his presence,
forthwith Holofernes was caught by his eyes.
18 And his officers said to him: Who can
despise the people of the Hebrews who have such beautiful women, that we
should not think it worth our while for their sakes to fight against them?
19 And Judith seeing Holofernes
sitting under a canopy, which was woven of purple and gold, with emeralds and
precious stones:
20 After she had looked on his face bowed
down to him, prostrating herself to the ground. And the servants of Holofernes lifted her up, by the command of their master.
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1- و كان لما فرغت من صراخها الى الرب انها
قامت من المكان الذي كانت فيه منطرحة امام الرب.
2- و دعت وصيفتها و نزلت الى
بيتها و القت عنها المسح و نزعت عنها ثياب ارمالها.
3- و استحمت و ادهنت باطياب نفيسة و فرقت
شعرها و جعلت تاجا على راسها و لبست ثياب فرحها و احتذت بحذاء و لبست الدمالج و
السواسن و القرطة و الخواتم و تزينت بكل زينتها.
4- و زادها الرب ايضا بهاء من اجل ان تزينها
هذا لم يكن عن شهوة بل عن فضيلة و لذلك زاد الرب في جمالها حتى ظهرت في عيون
الجميع ببهاء لا يمثل.
5- و حملت وصيفتها زق خمر و اناء زيت و دقيقا
و تينا يابسا و خبزا و جبنا و انطلقت.
6- فلما بلغتا باب المدينة وجدتا عزيا و شيوخ
المدينة منتظرين.
7- فلما راوها اندهشوا و تعجبوا جدا من
جمالها.
8- غير انهم لم يسالوها عن شيء بل تركوها تجوز
قائلين اله ابائنا يمنحك نعمة و يؤيد كل مشورة قلبك بقوته حتى تفتخر بك اورشليم
و يكون اسمك محصى في عداد القديسين و الابرار.
9- فقال كل من هناك بصوت واحد امين امين.
10- فخرجت يهوديت من الباب هي و امتها و كانت
تصلي الى الرب.
11- و كان انها لما نزلت من
الجبل عند تبلج النهار لقيتها طلائع الاشوريين فامسكوها قائلين من اين جئت و الى
اين تذهبين.
12- فاجابت اني بنت للعبرانيين و قد هربت من
بينهم لاني ايقنت انهم سيكونون غنيمة لكم لانهم استخفوا بكم و ابوا ان يستسلموا
لكم طوعا حتى يظفروا منكم برحمة.
13- فلاجل هذا فكرت في نفسي و قلت انطلق الى
امام الامير اليفانا لاخبره باسرارهم و اعلمه من اي مدخل يستطيع ان يظفر بهم و
لا يقتل رجلا من جيشه.
14- فلما سمع اولئك الرجال كلامها و هم ينظرون
الى وجهها اندهشت ابصارهم لشدة تعجبهم من حسنها.
15- فقالوا لها قد وقيت نفسك باتخاذك هذه
المشورة ان تنزلي الى سيدنا.
16- فاعلمي انك اذا وقفت بحضرته يحسن اليك و
تقعين من قلبه احسن موقع ثم اخذوها الى خيمة اليفانا و اخبروه بها.
17- فلما دخلت عليه اصطيد اليفانا لساعته
بعينيها.
18- فقال له اشراطه من يزدري بشعب العبرانيين
و لهم نسوة مثل هذه جميلات السن اهلا لان نقاتلهم لاجلهن.
19- و اذ رات يهوديت اليفانا جالسا في الخيمة
المنسوجة من ارجوان و ذهب و زمرد و جواهر.
20- و نظرت الى وجهه خرت له
ساجدة على الارض فانهضها عبيد اليفانا بامر سيدهم
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