Judith, 11

1. Then Holofernes said to her: “Be steadfast in soul, and do not be terrified in your heart. For I have never harmed a man who was willing to serve king Nebuchadnezzar.

1. Kaza joj tada Holoferno: "Budi hrabra, ženo! Ne plaši se u srcu svome! Jer nisam nanio zla nikome od onih koji odluèiše služiti Nabukodonozora, kralja sve zemlje.

2. But if your people had not despised me, I would not have lifted up my lance over them.

2. Pa da me i tvoj narod koji živi u brdovitu kraju nije prezreo, ja ne bih digao koplja na nj. Ali su sami to skrivili.

3. But now, tell me, for what reason have you withdrawn from them, and why has it pleased you to come to us?”

3. Nego, sada mi reci zašto si pobjegla od njih a došla k nama. Došla si da se spasiš! Hrabro, život æe ti biti pošteðen noæas a i poslije.

4. And Judith said to him: “Receive the words of your maidservant. For, if you will follow the words of your maidservant, the Lord will accomplish an excellent thing by you.

4. Nitko ti neæe nanijeti zla, nego æe se postupati s tobom kako se postupa sa slugama moga gospodara i kralja Nabukodonozora."

5. For, as Nebuchadnezzar the king of the earth lives, and as his power lives, which is with you for the chastising of all straying souls: not only men serve him through you, but also the beasts of the field are submissive to him.

5. Judita mu odgovori: "Poslušaj rijeèi robinje svoje. Neka sluškinji tvojoj bude dopušteno govoriti s tobom: neæu noæas govoriti laži svome gospodaru.

6. For the diligence of your mind is being reported to all nations, and it has been revealed to all of this age that you alone are good and powerful in all his kingdom, and your discipline is being announced beforehand in all the provinces.

6. Budeš li slijedio savjete sluškinje svoje, Bog æe ti pomoæi sretno izvesti djelo tvoje, a gospodar moj neæe biti razoèaran sa svojih pothvata.

7. This is not hidden, what Achior has said, nor are we ignorant of what you have ordered to befall him.

7. Neka živi Nabukodonozor, kralj sve zemlje, neka živi moæ onoga koji te uputio kako bi uzmogao na pravi put izvesti svako živo biæe! Pomoæu tebe nisu mu doista podvrgnuti samo ljudi nego, zahvaljujuæi vrijednosti tvojoj, i divlje i domaæe životinje i ptice nebeske: sve živi samo za Nabukodonozora i svu kuæu njegovu.

8. For it is agreed that our God is so offended with sins that he has commanded, through his prophets to the people, that he will deliver them up for their sins.

8. Doèuli smo veæ i za razboritost i za oštroumnost tvoju. Svoj je zemlji znano da si u svem kraljevstvu samo ti sposoban, vrstan i pronicav u ratnom umijeæu.

9. And since the sons of Israel know that they have offended their God, your trembling is upon them.

9. Doznali smo i za govor što ga je Ahior izgovorio na tvome vijeæanju; buduæi da su ga stanovnici Betulije spasili, on im je kazao sve što je rekao pred tobom.

10. Moreover, now also a famine has assailed them, and, by drought of water, they are already counted among the dead.

10. A sada, moæni gospodaru, nemoj potcjenjivati njegovo razlaganje nego ga pohrani u srcu svome jer je istinito: ne može se rod naš progoniti niti ga može dohvatiti maè, osim ako sagriješi Bogu svome.

11. And finally, they have a plan to put to death their herds, and to drink their blood.

11. Ali da moj gospodar ne bi ostao razoèaran i promašio u svome pothvatu, past æe na glavu njihovu smrt: tereti ih grijeh kojim su razgnjevili Boga svoga poèinivši bezakonje.

12. And the sacred things of the Lord their God, which God instructed them not to touch, among the grain, wine, and oil, these they have decided to expend, and they are willing to consume the things that they ought not to touch with their hands. Therefore, because they do these things, it is certain that they will be given over to perdition.

12. Kako im je ponestalo hrane, a i vode imaju sve manje, prohtjelo im se da navale na stoku svoju i odluèiše da jedu što im je Bog zakonima zabranio.

13. And I, your maidservant, knowing this, have fled from them, and the Lord has sent me to report to you these same things.

13. Èak su naumili potrošiti prvine žita i desetine vina i ulja, èuvane i namijenjene sveæenicima koji u Jeruzalemu služe Boga našega; a ipak su to stvari kojih se nitko od naroda nije smio ni rukom dodirnuti.

14. For I, your maidservant, worship God even now that I am with you, and your maidservant will go out, and I will pray to God.

14. Otpravili su u Jeruzalem, buduæi da i tamošnji stanovnici isto rade, glasnike da im donesu potrebno dopuštenje od Vijeæa starješina.

15. And he will tell me when he will repay them for their sins, and I will return and announce it to you, so that I may bring you through the midst of Jerusalem, and you will hold all the people of Israel, like sheep that have no shepherd, and there will not be so much as one dog that barks against you.

15. Èim im stigne dopuštenje te izvrše svoj naum, toga istog dana bit æe ti predani na uništenje.

16. For these things have been told to me through the providence of God.

16. Kada sam ja, sluškinja tvoja, doznala sve to, pobjegoh od njih. Bog me poslao da sudjelujem s tobom u pothvatu kojemu æe se zaèuditi sva zemlja kada za nj èuje.

17. And because God has been angry with them, I have been sent to report these same things to you.”

17. Jer sluškinja je tvoja pobožna i štuje Boga nebeskoga i dan i noæ, pa sada, kad ostanem uza te, gospodaru, tvoja æe sluškinja samo zatražiti da može noæu otiæi prema dolini. Ondje æu moliti Boga, pa æe mi kazati kada oni poèine grijeh.

18. And so, all these words were pleasing before Holofernes, and before his servants, and they wondered at her wisdom, and they said to one another:

18. Zatim æu se vratiti i tebe obavijestiti, i ti æeš tada izaæi sa svom vojskom. Meðu njima neæe biti nikoga da ti se odupre.

19. “There is not another woman so great upon the earth: in appearance, in beauty, and in charming words.”

19. Odvest æu te kroz Judeju sve do samog Jeruzalema, postavit æu usred njega prijestolje tvoje. Ti æeš ih tjerati pred sobom kao što se tjera stado koje nema pastira. Ni pas pred tobom neæe zalajati. Sve sam to predosjetila, to mi je objavljeno, pa sam poslana da ti odam."

20. And Holofernes said to her: “God has done well, who sent you ahead of the people, so that you may give them into our hands.

20. Te se rijeèi svidješe Holofernu i svima njegovim slugama. Zadiviše se mudrosti njezinoj te uzviknuše:

21. And if your promise is good, if your God will do this for me, he will also be my God, and you will be great in the house of Nebuchadnezzar, and your name will be renowned through all the earth.”

21. "Od jednoga do drugog kraja svijeta nema ravne njoj ljepotom lika i mudrošæu razlaganja."

22.

22. A Holoferno joj reèe: "Dobro je uèinio Bog što te poslao pred tvojim narodom da nama pripadne moæ, a propast onima koji su prezreli moga gospodara.

23.

23. A ti si plemenita izgledom i lijepo zboriš. Budeš li sve uèinila kao što si kazala, tvoj Bog postat æe i moj Bog, a ti æeš provoditi svoje dane u palaèi kralja Nabukodonozora i bit æeš slavna na svoj zemlji."