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The canticle of Judith: her virtuous life and death.
1 Then Judith sung this canticle to the Lord, saying:
Tunc cantavit canticum hoc Domino Judith, dicens :
2 Begin ye to the Lord with timbrels, sing ye to the Lord with cymbals, tune unto him a new psalm, extol and call upon his name.
Incipite Domino in tympanis; cantate Domino in cymbalis; modulamini illi psalmum novum : exaltate, et invocate nomen ejus.
3 The Lord putteth an end to wars, the Lord is his name.
Dominus conterens bella, Dominus nomen est illi.
4 He hath set his camp in the midst of his people, to deliver us from the hand of all our enemies.
Qui posuit castra sua in medio populi sui, ut eriperet nos de manu omnium inimicorum nostrorum.
5 The Assyrians came out of the mountains from the north in the multitude of his strength: his multitude stopped up the torrents, and their horses covered the valleys.
Venit Assur ex montibus ab aquilone in multitudine fortitudinis suae : cujus multitudo obturavit torrentes, et equi eorum cooperuerunt valles.
6 He bragged that he would set my borders on fire, and kill my young men with the sword, to make my infants a prey, and my virgins captives.
Dixit se incensurum fines meos, et juvenes meos occisurum gladio; infantes meos dare in praedam, et virgines in captivitatem.
7 But the almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.
Dominus autem omnipotens nocuit eum, et tradidit eum in manus feminae, et confodit eum.
8 For their mighty one did not fall by young men, neither did the sons of Titan strike him, nor tall giants oppose themselves to him, but Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her face.
Non enim cecidit potens eorum a juvenibus, nec filii Titan percusserunt eum, nec excelsi gigantes opposuerunt se illi : sed Judith filia Merari in specie faciei suae dissolvit eum.
9 For she put off her the garments of widowhood, and put on her the garments of joy, to give joy to the children of Israel.
Exuit enim se vestimento viduitatis, et induit se vestimento laetitiae in exultatione filiorum Israel.
10 She anointed her face with ointment, and bound up her locks with a crown, she took a new robe to deceive him.
Unxit faciem suam unguento, et colligavit cincinnos suos mitra; accepit stolam novem ad decipiendum illum.
11 Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty made his soul her captive, with a sword she cut off his head.
Sandalia ejus rapuerunt oculos ejus; pulchritudo ejus captivam fecit animam ejus : amputavit pugione cervicem ejus.
12 The Persians quaked at her constancy, and the Medes at her boldness.
Horruerunt Persae constantiam ejus, et Medi audaciam ejus.
13 Then the camp of the Assyrians howled, when my lowly ones appeared, parched with thirst.
Tunc ululaverunt castra Assyriorum, quando apparuerunt humiles mei, arescentes in siti.
14 The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and they have killed them like children fleeing away: they perished in battle before the face of the Lord my God.
Filii puellarum compunxerunt eos, et sicut pueros fugientes occiderunt eos : perierunt in praelio a facie Domini Dei mei.
15 Let us sing a hymn to the Lord, let us sing a new hymn to our God.
Hymnum cantemus Domino; hymnum novum cantemus Deo nostro.
16 O Adonai, Lord, great art thou, and glorious in thy power, and no one can overcome thee.
Adonai Domine, magnus es tu, et praeclarus in virtute tua : et quem superare nemo potest.
17 Let all thy creatures serve thee: because thou hast spoken, and they were made: thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were created, and there is no one that can resist thy voice.
Tibi serviat omnis creatura tua, quia dixisti, et facta sunt; misisti spiritum tuum, et creata sunt : et non est qui resistat voci tuae.
18 The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the waters: the rocks shall melt as wax before thy face.
Montes a fundamentis movebuntur cum aquis : petrae, sicut cera, liquescent ante faciem tuam.
19 But they that fear thee, shall be great with thee in all things.
Qui autem timent te, magni erunt apud te per omnia.
20 Woe be to the nation that riseth up against my people: for the Lord almighty will take revenge on them, in the day of judgment he will visit them.
Vae genti insurgenti super genus meum : Dominus enim omnipotens vindicabit in eis; in die judicii visitabit illos.
21 For he will give fire, and worms into their flesh, that they may burn, and may feel for ever.
Dabit enim ignem et vermes in carnes eorum, ut urantur et sentiant usque in sempiternum.
22 And it came to pass after these things, that all the people, after the victory, came to Jerusalem to adore the Lord: and as soon as they were purified, they all offered holocausts, and vows, and their promises.
Et factum est post haec, omnis populus post victoriam venit in Jerusalem adorare Dominum : et mox ut purificati sunt, obtulerunt omnes holocausta, et vota, et repromissiones suas.
23 And Judith offered for an anathema of oblivion all the arms of Holofernes, which the people gave her, and the canopy that she had taken away out of his chamber.
Porro Judith universa vasa bellica Holofernis, quae dedit illi populus, et conopeum, quod ipsa sustulerat de cubili ipsius, obtulit in anathema oblivionis.
24 And the people were joyful in the sight of the sanctuary, and for three months the joy of this victory was celebrated with Judith.
Erat autem populus jucundus secundum faciem sanctorum : et per tres menses gaudium hujus victoriae celebratum est cum Judith.
25 And after those days every man returned to his house, and Judith was made great in Bethulia, and she was most renowned in all the land of Israel.
Post dies autem illos, unusquisque rediit in domum suam : et Judith magna facta est in Bethulia, et praeclarior erat universae terrae Israel.
26 And chastity was joined to her virtue, so that she knew no man all the days of her life, after the death of Manasses her husband.
Erat enim virtuti castitas adjuncta, ita ut non cognosceret virum omnibus diebus vitae suae, ex quo defunctus est Manasses, vir ejus.
27 And on festival days she came forth with great glory.
Erat autem, diebus festis, procedens cum magna gloria.
28 And she abode in her husband's house a hundred and five years, and made her handmaid free, and she died, and was buried with her husband in Bethulia.
Mansit autem in domo viri sui annos centum quinque, et dimisit abram suam liberam, et defuncta est ac sepulta cum viro suo in Bethulia.
29 And all the people mourned for seven days.
Luxitque illam omnis populus diebus septem.
30 And all the time of her life there was none that troubled Israel, nor many years after her death.
In omni autem spatio vitae ejus non fuit qui perturbaret Israel, et post mortem ejus annis multis.
31 But the day of the festivity of this victory is received by the Hebrews in the number of holy days, and is religiously observed by the Jews from that time until this day.
Dies autem victoriae hujus festivitatis ab Hebraeis in numero sanctorum dierum accipitur, et colitur a Judaeis ex illo tempore usque in praesentem diem.
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