The Book of Judith, Chapter 9ΙΟΥΔΙΘ Θ′

Ιουδιθ δὲ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον καὶ ἐπέθετο σποδὸν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐγύμνωσεν ὃν ἐνεδεδύκει σάκκον καὶ ἦν ἄρτι προσφερόμενον ἐν Ιερουσαλημ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ θυμίαμα τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐκείνης καὶ ἐβόησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ Ιουδιθ πρὸς κύριον καὶ εἶπεν

Then Judith fell upon her face, put ashes on her head, uncovered the sackcloth she had been wearing, and at the very time when the evening incense was then being offered in Jerusalem in the house of God, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice and said,

κύριε ὁ θεὸς τοῦ πατρός μου Συμεων ᾧ ἔδωκας ἐν χειρὶ ῥομφαίαν εἰς ἐκδίκησιν ἀλλογενῶν οἳ ἔλυσαν μήτραν παρθένου εἰς μίασμα καὶ ἐγύμνωσαν μηρὸν εἰς αἰσχύνην καὶ ἐβεβήλωσαν μήτραν εἰς ὄνειδος εἶπας γάρ οὐχ οὕτως ἔσται καὶ ἐποίησαν

“Lord, God of my father Simeon, to whom you gave a sword in hand for vengeance against foreigners who loosened a virgin’s womb for defilement, stripped a thigh for shame, and profaned a womb for reproach; for though you said, ‘It shall not be so,’ they did it,

ἀνθ' ὧν ἔδωκας ἄρχοντας αὐτῶν εἰς φόνον καὶ τὴν στρωμνὴν αὐτῶν ἣ ᾐδέσατο τὴν ἀπάτην αὐτῶν ἀπατηθεῖσαν εἰς αἷμα καὶ ἐπάταξας δούλους ἐπὶ δυνάσταις καὶ δυνάστας ἐπὶ θρόνους αὐτῶν

therefore you gave their rulers over to slaughter, and their bed, which blushed at their deceit, to blood through deceit; and you struck slaves over princes and princes upon their thrones.

καὶ ἔδωκας γυναῖκας αὐτῶν εἰς προνομὴν καὶ θυγατέρας αὐτῶν εἰς αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ πάντα τὰ σκῦλα αὐτῶν εἰς διαίρεσιν υἱῶν ἠγαπημένων ὑπὸ σοῦ οἳ καὶ ἐζήλωσαν τὸν ζῆλόν σου καὶ ἐβδελύξαντο μίασμα αἵματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπεκαλέσαντό σε εἰς βοηθόν ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐμός καὶ εἰσάκουσον ἐμοῦ τῆς χήρας

You gave their wives to plunder and their daughters to captivity and all their spoils to a division among sons beloved by you, who also were zealous with your zeal and abhorred the defilement of their blood and called on you as helper. O God, my God, hear me, a widow.

σὺ γὰρ ἐποίησας τὰ πρότερα ἐκείνων καὶ ἐκεῖνα καὶ τὰ μετέπειτα καὶ τὰ νῦν καὶ τὰ ἐπερχόμενα διενοήθης καὶ ἐγενήθησαν ἃ ἐνενοήθης

For you made the things before those events and those events themselves and the things after them and the things now and the things coming; you planned them, and the things you had conceived came to be.

καὶ παρέστησαν ἃ ἐβουλεύσω καὶ εἶπαν ἰδοὺ πάρεσμεν πᾶσαι γὰρ αἱ ὁδοί σου ἕτοιμοι καὶ ἡ κρίσις σου ἐν προγνώσει

What you purposed stood ready and said, ‘Behold, we are here,’ for all your ways are prepared and your judgment is in foreknowledge.

ἰδοὺ γὰρ Ἀσσύριοι ἐπληθύνθησαν ἐν δυνάμει αὐτῶν ὑψώθησαν ἐφ' ἵππῳ καὶ ἀναβάτῃ ἐγαυρίασαν ἐν βραχίονι πεζῶν ἤλπισαν ἐν ἀσπίδι καὶ ἐν γαίσῳ καὶ τόξῳ καὶ σφενδόνῃ καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὅτι σὺ εἶ κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους

For behold, the Assyrians have been multiplied in their strength; they have been lifted up in horse and rider, they have boasted in the arm of foot soldiers, they have hoped in shield and spear and bow and sling, and they did not know that you are the Lord who shatters wars.

κύριος ὄνομά σοι σὺ ῥάξον αὐτῶν τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐν δυνάμει σου καὶ κάταξον τὸ κράτος αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐβουλεύσαντο γὰρ βεβηλῶσαι τὰ ἅγιά σου μιᾶναι τὸ σκήνωμα τῆς καταπαύσεως τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς δόξης σου καταβαλεῖν σιδήρῳ κέρας θυσιαστηρίου σου

Lord is your name; dash their strength by your power and break their dominion in your wrath, for they have planned to profane your holy things, to defile the tabernacle that is the resting place of your glorious name, and to cast down with iron the horn of your altar.

βλέψον εἰς ὑπερηφανίαν αὐτῶν ἀπόστειλον τὴν ὀργήν σου εἰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν δὸς ἐν χειρί μου τῆς χήρας ὃ διενοήθην κράτος

Look upon their pride; send your wrath upon their heads; give into the hand of me, a widow, the power I have conceived.

πάταξον δοῦλον ἐκ χειλέων ἀπάτης μου ἐπ' ἄρχοντι καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐπὶ θεράποντι αὐτοῦ θραῦσον αὐτῶν τὸ ἀνάστεμα ἐν χειρὶ θηλείας

Strike slave by the lips of my deceit against ruler, and ruler against his servant; shatter their arrogance by the hand of a woman.

οὐ γὰρ ἐν πλήθει τὸ κράτος σου οὐδὲ ἡ δυναστεία σου ἐν ἰσχύουσιν ἀλλὰ ταπεινῶν εἶ θεός ἐλαττόνων εἶ βοηθός ἀντιλήμπτωρ ἀσθενούντων ἀπεγνωσμένων σκεπαστής ἀπηλπισμένων σωτήρ

For your might does not stand in numbers, nor your dominion in the strong; rather, you are the God of the humble, the helper of the lesser, the supporter of the weak, the shelterer of the desperate, the savior of the hopeless.

ναὶ ναὶ ὁ θεὸς τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ θεὸς κληρονομίας Ισραηλ δέσποτα τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τῆς γῆς κτίστα τῶν ὑδάτων βασιλεῦ πάσης κτίσεώς σου σὺ εἰσάκουσον τῆς δεήσεώς μου

Yes, yes, O God of my father and God of the inheritance of Israel, Master of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my petition.

καὶ δὸς λόγον μου καὶ ἀπάτην εἰς τραῦμα καὶ μώλωπα αὐτῶν οἳ κατὰ τῆς διαθήκης σου καὶ οἴκου ἡγιασμένου σου καὶ κορυφῆς Σιων καὶ οἴκου κατασχέσεως υἱῶν σου ἐβουλεύσαντο σκληρά

And grant that my word and deceit may become wound and bruise to those who have planned harsh things against your covenant and your consecrated house and the summit of Zion and the house that belongs to your sons.

καὶ ποίησον ἐπὶ παντὸς ἔθνους σου καὶ πάσης φυλῆς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ εἰδῆσαι ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ θεὸς θεὸς πάσης δυνάμεως καὶ κράτους καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος ὑπερασπίζων τοῦ γένους Ισραηλ εἰ μὴ σύ

And make all your nation and every tribe know with understanding that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who defends the race of Israel except you.”