Bible in a Year.

On day 251, we delve into critical moments of the exile. Jeremiah 41-42 narrates political instability and the need for trust in God. Judith 12-14 demonstrates courage and faithfulness in times of danger. Proverbs 17:13-16 offers advice on justice and prudence, reminding us to act with discernment in the face of adversity.

Chapter 41

1. And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismahel the son of Nathanias, the son of Elisama of the royal blood, and the nobles of the king, and ten men with him, came to Godolias the son of Ahicam into Masphath: and they ate bread there together in Masphath.

2. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias arose, and the ten men that were with him, and they struck Godolias the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan with the sword, and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

3. Ismahel slew also all the Jews that were with Godolias in Masphath, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the soldiers.

4. And on the second day after he had killed Godolias, no man yet knowing it,

5. There came some from Sichem, and from Silo, and from Samaria, fourscore men, with their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and mourning: and they had offerings and incense in their hand, to offer in the house of the Lord.

6. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias went forth from Masphath to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and when he had met them, he said to them: Come to Godolias, the son of Ahicam.

7. And when they were come to the midst of the city, Ismahel the son of Nathanias, slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him.

8. But ten men were found among them, that said to Ismahel : Kill us not: for we have stores in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. And he forbore, and slew them not with their brethren.

9. And the pit into which Ismahel cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he slew because of Godolias, is the same that king Asa made, for fear of Baasa the king of Israel: the same did Ismahel the son of Nathanias fill with them that were slain.

10. Then Ismahel carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Masphath : the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Masphath: whom Nabuzardan the general of the army had committed to Godolias the son of Ahicam. And Ismahel the son of Nathanias took them, and he departed, to go over to the children of Ammon.

11. But Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, heard of the evil that Ismahel the son of Nathanias had done.

12. And taking all the men, they went out to fight against Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and they found him by the great waters that are in Gabaon.

13. And when all the people that were with Ismahel, had seen Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, they rejoiced.

14. And all the people whom Ismahel had taken, went back to Masphath: and they returned and went to Johanan the son of Caree.

15. But Ismahel the son of Nathanias fled with eight men, from the face of Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon.

16. Then Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom they had recovered from Ismahel the son of Nathanias, from Masphath, after that he had slain Godolias the son of Ahicam: valiant men for war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gabaon:

17. And they departed, and sat as sojourners in Chamaam, which is near Bethlehem: in order to go forward, and enter into Egypt,

18. From the face of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ismahel the son of Nathanias had slain Godolias the son of Ahicam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land of Juda.

Chapter 42

1. Then all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan the son of Caree, and Jezonias the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near:

2. And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

3. And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do.

4. And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you.

5. And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.

6. Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom me send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.

7. Now after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

8. And he called Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

9. And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:

10. If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plane you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.

11. Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

12. And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land.

13. But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God,

14. Saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt: where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.

15. For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there:

16. The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

17. And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.

18. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.

19. This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.

20. For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

21. And now I have declared it to you this day, and ;you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.

22. Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.

Chapter 12

1. Then he ordered that she should go in where his treasures were laid up, and bade her tarry there, and he appointed what should be given her from his own table.

2. And Judith answered him and said: Now I cannot eat of these things which thou commandest to be given me, lest sin come upon me: but I will eat of the things which I have brought.

3. And Holofernes said to her: If these things which thou hast brought with thee fail thee, what shall we do for thee?

4. And Judith said: As thy soul liveth, my lord, thy handmaid shall not spend all these things till God do by my hand that which I have purposed. And his servants brought her into the tent which he had commanded.

5. And when she was going in, she desired that she might have liberty to go out at night and before day to prayer, and to beseech the Lord.

6. And he commanded his chamberlains, that she might go out and in, to adore her God as she pleased, for three days.

7. And she went out in the nights into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water.

8. And as she came up, she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, that he would direct her way to the deliverance of his people.

9. And going in, she remained pure in the tent, until she took her own meat in the evening.

10. And it came to pass on the fourth day, that Holofernes made a supper for his servants, and said to Vagao his eunuch: so, and persuade that Hebrew woman, to consent of her own accord to dwell with me.

11. For it is looked upon as shameful among the Assyrians, if a woman mock a man, by doing so as to pass free from him.

12. Then Vagao went in to Judith, and said: Let not my good maid be afraid to go in to my lord, that she may be honoured before his face, that she may eat with him and drink wine and be merry.

13. And Judith answered him: Who am I, that I should gainsay my lord?

14. All that shall be good and best before his eyes, I will do. And whatsoever shall please him, that shall be best to me all the days of my life.

15. And she arose and dressed herself out with her garments, and going in she stood before his face.

16. And the heart of Holofernes was smitten, for he was burning with the desire of her.

17. And Holofernes said to her: Drink now, and sit down and be merry for thou hast found favour before me.

18. And Judith said: I will drink my lord, because my life is magnified this day above all my days.

19. And she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared for her.

20. And Holofernes was made merry on her occasion, and drank exceeding much wine, so much as he had never drunk in his life.

Chapter 13

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

2. And they were all overcharged with wine.

3. And Judith was alone in the chamber.

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

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

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

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

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

12. 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.

13. 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.

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

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

16. 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,

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

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

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

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

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

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

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

31. 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.

Chapter 14

1. And Judith said to all the people: Hear me, my brethren, hang ye up this head upon our walls.

2. And as soon as the sun shall rise, let every man take his arms, and rush ye out, not as going down beneath, but as making an assault.

3. Then the watchmen must needs run to awake their prince for the battle.

4. And when the captains of them shall run to the tent of Holofernes, and shall find him without his head wallowing in his blood, fear shall fall upon them.

5. And when you shall know that they are fleeing, go after them securely, for the Lord will destroy them under your feet.

6. Then Achior seeing the power that the God of Israel had wrought, leaving the religion of the gentiles, he believed God, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the people of Israel, with all the succession of his kindred until this present day.

7. And immediately at break of day, they hung up the head of Holofernes upon the walls, and every man took his arms, and they sent out with a great noise and shouting.

8. And the watchmen seeing this, ran to the tent of Holofernes.

9. And they that were in the tent came, and made a noise before the door of the chamber to awake him, endeavoring by art to break his rest, that Holofernes might awake, not by their calling him, but by their noise.

10. For no man durst knock, or open and go into the chamber of the general of the Assyrians.

11. But when his captains and tribunes were come, and all the chiefs of the army of the king of the Assyrians, they said to the chamberlains

12. Go in, and awake him, for the mice coming out of their holes, have presumed to challenge us to fight.

13. Then Vagao going into his chamber, stood before the curtain, and made a clapping with his hands: for he thought that he was sleeping with Judith.

14. But when with hearkening, he perceived no motion of one lying, he came near to the curtain, and lifting it up, and seeing the body of Holofernes, lying upon the ground, without the head, sweltering in his blood, he cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and rent his garments.

15. And he went into the tent of Judith, and not finding her, he ran out to the people,

16. And said: One Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for behold Holofernes lieth upon the ground, and his head is not upon him.

17. Now when the chiefs of the army of the Assyrians had heard this, they all rent their garments, and an intolerable fear and dread fell upon them, and their minds were troubled exceedingly.

18. And there was a very great cry in the midst of their camp.

13. He that rendereth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

14. The beginning of quarrels is as when one letteth out water: before he suffereth reproach he forsaketh judgment.

15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, both are abominable before God.

16. What doth it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy wisdom? He that maketh his house high, seeketh a downfall: and he that refuseth to learn, shall fall into evils.