The Bible Story

by Newton Marshall Hall; Irving Francis Wood

"God be judge between you and us: because ye have done us great wrong, in that ye have not spoken words of peace with the children of Asshur. And now we have no helper: but God hath given us into their hands, that we should be laid low before them with thirst and great destruction. And now call them unto you, and deliver up the whole city for a prey to the people of Holofernes, and to all his host. For it is better for us to be made a spoil for them: for we shall be servants, and our souls shall live, and we shall not see the death of our babes before our eyes, and our wives and our children fainting in death. We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God and the Lord of our fathers, who punisheth us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day."

And there was great weeping of all with one consent [{86}] in the midst of the assembly; and they cried unto the Lord God with a loud voice. And Ozias said to them, "Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure five days, in the which space the Lord our God may turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly. But if these days pass, and there come no help unto us, I will do according to your words."

And he dispersed the people, every man to his own camp; and they went away unto the walls and towers of their city; and he sent the women and children into their houses: and they were brought very low in the city.

Then there arose a saviour for Israel in the person of Judith.

And in those days Judith heard thereof, whose husband was Manasses, of her tribe and of her family, and he died in the days of barley harvest. For he stood over them that bound sheaves in the field, and the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in his city Bethulia. And Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months. And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on sackcloth; and the garments of her widowhood were upon her.

And she was of a goodly countenance, and exceeding beautiful to behold: and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants, and maidservants, and cattle and lands. And there was none that gave her an evil word; for she feared God exceedingly.

And she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, because they fainted for lack of water; and [{87}] Judith heard all the words that Ozias spoke unto them, how he swore to them that he would deliver the city unto the Assyrians after five days. And she sent her maid, who was over all things that she had, to call Ozias and the elders of her city. And they came to her, and she said to them,--

"Hear me now, O ye rulers of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your word that ye have spoken before the people this day is not right, and ye have set the oath which ye have pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you. And now who are ye that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men? And now try the Lord Almighty and ye shall never know anything. For ye cannot find the depth of the heart of man, and ye cannot perceive the things that he thinketh: and how can ye search out God, which hath made all these things, and know his mind, and comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger. For if he be not minded to help us within these five days, he hath power to defend us when he will, or to destroy us before the face of our enemies. But do not ye pledge the counsels of the Lord our God: for God is not as man, that he should be threatened; neither as the son of man, that he should be turned by intreaty. Wherefore let us wait for the salvation that cometh from him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him. For there arose none in our age, neither is there any of us to-day, [{88}] tribe, or kindred, or family, or city, which worship gods made with hands, as it was in the former days; for which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and fell with a great fall before our enemies. But we know no other god beside him, wherefore we hope that he will not despise us, nor any of our race. For if we be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and of our blood shall he require the profanation thereof. And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the land, and the desolation of our inheritance, shall he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offense and a reproach before them that take us for a possession. For our bondage shall bring favor: but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonor.

"And now, brethren, let us show an example to our brethren, because their soul hangeth upon us, and the sanctuary and the house and the altar rest upon us. Besides all this let us give thanks to the Lord our God, which trieth us, even as he did our fathers also. Remember all the things which he did to Abraham, and all the things in which he tried Isaac, and all the things which happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother's brother. For he hath not tried us in the fire, as he did them, to search out their hearts, neither hath he taken vengeance on us; but the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto him, to admonish them."

And Ozias said to her, "All that thou hast spoken hast [{89}] thou spoken with a good heart, and there is none that shall deny thy words. For this is not the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known thine understanding, because the disposition of thy heart is good. But the people were exceeding thirsty, and compelled us to do as we spoke to them, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break. And now pray thou for us, because thou art a godly woman, and the Lord shall send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more."