And when it was grown late, his servants made haste to their lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors, and went his way.

Ut autem sero factum est, festinaverunt servi illius ad hospitia sua, et conclusit Vagao ostia cubiculi, et abiit.

And now it was late; his attendants were fain to make for their beds, leaving Vagoa, the last of them, to shut the doors of the banqueting-room;

And they were all overcharged with wine.

Erant autem omnes fatigati a vino,

the wine had made drowsy men of them.

And Judith was alone in the chamber.

eratque Judith sola in cubiculo.

In the banqueting-room, Judith was now left alone,

But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk.

Porro Holofernes jacebat in lecto, nimia ebrietate sopitus.

save for Holofernes, that lay full length on his couch by the table, in drunken sleep.

And Judith spoke to her maid to stand without before the chamber, and to watch:

Dixitque Judith puellæ suæ ut staret foris ante cubiculum, et observaret.

Her maid she left at the door, to keep watch;

And Judith stood before the bed praying with tears, and the motion of her lips in silence,

Stetitque Judith ante lectum, orans cum lacrimis, et labiorum motu in silentio,

she herself, standing by the couch, wept silently, and silently moved her lips in prayer.

Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by thee.

dicens: Confirma me, Domine Deus Israël, et respice in hac hora ad opera manuum mearum, ut, sicut promisisti, Jerusalem civitatem tuam erigas: et hoc quod credens per te posse fieri cogitavi, perficiam.

Lord God of Israel, she said, give me strength! Now guide these hands aright, and give Jerusalem the relief thou hast promised; now be the task performed, but for the hope of thy aid, undreamed of!

And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at his bed’s head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it.

Et cum hæc dixisset, accessit ad columnam quæ erat ad caput lectuli ejus, et pugionem ejus, qui in ea ligatus pendebat, exsolvit.

With that, she went to the head of the couch, and unfastened the scimitar that hung there;

And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour.

Cumque evaginasset illum, apprehendit comam capitis ejus, et ait: Confirma me, Domine Deus, in hac hora.

unsheathed it, and caught the sleeping man by the hair; Lord God, she said, strengthen me now!

And she struck twice upon his neck, and cut off his head, and took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body.

Et percussit bis in cervicem ejus, et abscidit caput ejus, et abstulit conopeum ejus a columnis, et evolvit corpus ejus truncum.

Twice the scimitar fell on his neck, and cut clean through it; down came the canopy from the pillars, down fell the headless body to the earth,

And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet.

Et post pusillum exivit, et tradidit caput Holofernis ancillæ suæ, et jussit ut mitteret illud in peram suam.

and ere long she was at the doors, giving the severed head to her maid-servant and bidding her thrust it away into the wallet she carried.

And they two went out according to their custom, as it were to prayer, and they passed the camp, and having compassed the valley, they came to the gate of the city.

Et exierunt duæ, secundum consuetudinem suam, quasi ad orationem, et transierunt castra, et gyrantes vallem, venerunt ad portam civitatis.

Then they went out, both of them, right through the camp, as if bound on their customary errand of prayer; but this time they took the winding path along the valley, right up to the city gates.

And Judith from afar off cried to the watchmen upon the walls: Open the gates for God is with us, who hath shewn his power in Israel.

Et dixit Judith a longe custodibus murorum: Aperite portas, quoniam nobiscum est Deus, qui fecit virtutem in Israël.

Far away rang the cry of Judith to the watchmen on the city walls, Open the gates! God is on our side. Open the gates! His power yet lives in Israel.

And it came to pass, when the men had heard her voice, that they called the ancients of the city.

Et factum est cum audissent viri vocem ejus, vocaverunt presbyteros civitatis.

These, upon hearing her voice, ran to tell the elders of the city,

And all ran to meet her from the least to the greatest: for they now had no hopes that she would come.

Et concurrerunt ad eam omnes, a minimo usque ad maximum: quoniam sperabant eam jam non esse venturam.

and all, high and low, went out to meet her; they had thought never to see her again.

And lighting up lights they all gathered round about her: and she went up to a higher place, and commanded silence to be made. And when all had held their peace,

Et accendentes luminaria, congyraverunt circa eam universi: illa autem ascendens in eminentiorem locum, jussit fieri silentium. Cumque omnes tacuissent,

There, by torch-light, they gathered round her, and she, mounting on to higher ground, bade them keep silence. Silence was made,

Judith said: Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in him.

dixit Judith: Laudate Dominum Deum nostrum, qui non deseruit sperantes in se,

and thus Judith began, Praise the Lord our God; he does not forsake those who put their trust in him.

And by me his handmaid he hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel: and he hath killed the enemy of his people by my hand this night.

et in me ancilla sua adimplevit misericordiam suam, quam promisit domui Israël: et interfecit in manu mea hostem populi sui hac nocte.

Through me, his handmaid, deliverance has come to Israel’s race, as he promised; through me, this night, the enemy of his people lies slain.

Then she brought forth the head of Holofernes out of the wallet, and shewed it them, saying: Behold the head of Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, wherein he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the hand of a woman.

Et proferens de pera caput Holofernis, ostendit illis, dicens: Ecce caput Holofernis principis militiæ Assyriorum, et ecce conopeum illius, in quo recumbebat in ebrietate sua, ubi per manum feminæ percussit illum Dominus Deus noster.

With that, she took Holofernes’ head out of the wallet where it lay hidden. Look upon this head, she cried, and know that the Assyrian army has lost its general. Look upon this, the canopy he lay under, in drunken sleep, when the Lord our God smote him, and by the hand of a woman.

But as the same Lord liveth, his angel hath been my keeper both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be defiled, but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance.

Vivit autem ipse Dominus, quoniam custodivit me angelus ejus et hinc euntem, et ibi commorantem, et inde huc revertentem, et non permisit me Dominus ancillam suam coinquinari, sed sine pollutione peccati revocavit me vobis gaudentem in victoria sua, in evasione mea, et in liberatione vestra.

And, as the Lord is a living God, well did his angel watch over me, thither going, there abiding, and thence returning. The Lord would not have his own handmaid stained with sin; he has brought me back to you inviolate, to glory in his triumph, my preservation, and your deliverance.

Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.

Confitemini illi omnes, quoniam bonus, quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus.

One and all, then, give thanks to the Lord; the Lord is gracious, his mercy endures for ever!

And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought.

Universi autem adorantes Dominum, dixerunt ad eam: Benedixit te Dominus in virtute sua, quia per te ad nihilum redegit inimicos nostros.

Thereupon all of them offered the Lord worship; and to her they said, With his own power the Lord has blessed thee, and by thy means has brought our enemies to nothing!

And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth.

Porro Ozias princeps populi Israël dixit ad eam: Benedicta es tu, filia, a Domino Deo excelso præ omnibus mulieribus super terram.

And Ozias, that was the Israelites’ commander, said to her, Blessing be thine, my daughter, from the Lord God, the most high, such as no other woman on earth can claim!

Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies.

Benedictus Dominus, qui creavit cælum et terram, qui te direxit in vulnera capitis principis inimicorum nostrorum:

Blessed be the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, for sending thee out to wound the head of our arch-enemy.

Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.

quia hodie nomen tuum ita magnificavit, ut non recedat laus tua de ore hominum qui memores fuerint virtutis Domini in æternum, pro quibus non pepercisti animæ tuæ propter angustias et tribulationem generis tui, sed subvenisti ruinæ ante conspectum Dei nostri.

Such high renown he has given thee this day, that the praise of thee shall never die on men’s lips, so long as they hold the Lord’s power in remembrance. Thy own life thou wouldst not prize, when thy countrymen were in need and great affliction; thou wouldst avert our ruin, with our God to speed thee.

And all the people said: So be it, so be it.

Et dixit omnis populus: Fiat, fiat.

And to that all the people said Amen.

And Achior being called for came, and Judith said to him: The God of Israel, to whom thou gavest testimony, that he revengeth himself of his enemies, he hath cut off the head of all the unbelievers this night by my hand.

Porro Achior vocatus venit, et dixit ei Judith: Deus Israël, cui tu testimonium dedisti quod ulciscatur se de inimicis suis, ipse caput omnium incredulorum incidit hac nocte in manu mea.

Then Achior was summoned, and thus Judith greeted him: No credit hast thou lost, by averring that the God of Israel did not spare his enemies; by my hand, this night, he has cut down the chief of those who gave thee the lie.

And that thou mayst find that it is so, behold the head of Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel: and threatened thee with death, saying: When the people of Israel shall be taken, I will command thy sides to be pierced with a sword.

Et ut probes quia ita est, ecce caput Holofernis, qui in contemptu superbiæ suæ Deum Israël contempsit, et tibi interitum minabatur, dicens: Cum captus fuerit populus Israël, gladio perforari præcipiam latera tua.

Was it not Holofernes that defied the God of Israel, in his proud insolence, and threatened thyself with death? When Israel was conquered, thou too, he said, shouldst be put to the sword. To prove which was the truer prophet, here is his head.

Then Achior seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with a great fear he fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned away.

Videns autem Achior caput Holofernis, angustiatus præ pavore cecidit in faciem suam super terram, et æstuavit anima ejus.

Upon seeing the head of Holofernes, Achior was in such a great taking of fear that he fell to earth in a swoon.

But after he had recovered his spirits he fell down at her feet, and reverenced her, and said:

Postea vero quam resumpto spiritu recreatus est, procidit ad pedes ejus, et adoravit eam, et dixit:

Then, coming back to his senses and taking heart again, he did reverence, bowing low at her feet;

Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee.

Benedicta tu a Deo tuo in omni tabernaculo Jacob, quoniam in omni gente quæ audierit nomen tuum, magnificabitur super te Deus Israël.

Wherever the sons of Jacob dwell, said he, God has made thy name a name of blessing; wherever thy renown reaches through the world, the God of Israel shall be glorified in the telling of it.