Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Judith's Prayer
1 Then Judith put ashes on her
head, opened her robe to reveal
the sackcloth she was wearing under
her clothes, and bowed down with
her face to the floor. It was the time
that the evening incense was being
offered in the Temple in Jerusalem,
and Judith prayed in a loud voice:
-- --
2 “O Lord, the God of my ancestor
Simeon, remember how you armed
Simeon with a sword to take revenge
on those foreigners who
seized Dinah, who was a virgin, tore
off her clothes, note and defiled her; they
stripped her naked and shamed her;
they raped her and disgraced her,
even though you had forbidden this. note
3 That is why you let their leaders be
killed—put to death on the same bed
where they had raped the girl. noteYou
destroyed them all, slaves, princes,
and rulers on their thrones.
4 You let
their wives be carried off, their
daughters taken captive, and their
possessions plundered by the Israelites,
your chosen people, who were
eager to do your will. Dinah's brothers
were furious because of this disgrace
to their family, so they called
on you for help.
4 “O my God, listen to my prayer,
the prayer of a widow.
5 Your hand
guided all that happened then, and
all that happened before and after.
You have planned it all—what is
happening now, and what is yet to
be. Your plans have always been
carried out.
6 Whatever you want to
be done is as good as done. You
know in advance all that you will do
and what decisions you will make.
7 Now the Assyrians are stronger
than ever; they take pride in their
cavalry and their infantry. They rely
on their weapons, but they do not
know that you, O Lord, are a warrior
who ends war. The Lord is your
name.
8 In your anger, use your
power to shatter their mighty army.
They plan to defile your Temple,
where you are worshiped, and to
hack off the corners of your altar
with their swords.
9 Look how proud
and boastful they are! Pour out your
fury upon them! I am only a widow,
but give me the strength to carry out
my plan.
10 Use my deceitful words
to strike them all dead, master and
slave alike. Let a woman's strength
break their pride.
11 Your power
does not depend on the size and
strength of an army. You are a God
who cares for the humble and helps
the oppressed. You give support and
protection to people who are weak
and helpless; you save those who
have lost hope.
12 Now hear my
prayer, O God of my ancestor Simeon,
the God in whom Israel trusts,
ruler of heaven and earth, creator of
the rivers and the seas, king of all
creation. Hear my prayer and
13 let
my deceitful words wound and kill
those who have planned such cruelty
against your covenant and your
holy Temple, against Mount Zion
and the land you have given your
people. note
14 Make your whole nation
and every tribe recognize that you
are God, almighty and all-powerful,
and that you alone protect the people
of Israel!”
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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