Liber Iudith, 4

1. Et audierunt filii Israel, qui habitabant in Iudaea, omnia, quaecumque fecerat gentibus Holofernes princeps militiae Nabuchodonosor regis Assyriorum, et quemadmodum spoliaverat omnia sancta eorum et dederat ea in exterminium.

1. By this time the people of Israel living in Judea heard of everything that Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered and destroyed all their temples;

2. Et timuerunt multum valde a facie eius et pro Ierusalem et pro templo Domini Dei sui turbati sunt,

2. they were therefore very greatly terrified at his approach, and were alarmed both for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God.

3. quoniam nuper ascenderant de captivitate, et nuper omnis populus Iudaeae collectus erat, et vasa et altare et domus ex commaculatione sanctificata erant.

3. For they had only recently returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea were newly gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been consecrated after their profanation.

4. Et miserunt in omnem finem Samariae et in vicos et Bethoron et Abelmain et Iericho et Choba et Aisora et convallem Salem.

4. So they sent to every district of Samaria, and to Kona and Beth-horon and Belmain and Jericho and to Choba and Aesora and the valley of Salem,

5. Et praeoccupaverunt omnes vertices montium excelsorum et muris circumdederunt vicos, qui in eis sunt, et reposuerunt epimenia in praeparationem pugnae, quoniam nuper erant campi eorum demessi.

5. and immediately seized all the high hilltops and fortified the villages on them and stored up food in preparation for war -- since their fields had recently been harvested.

6. Et scripsit Ioachim sacerdos magnus, qui erat in diebus illis in Ierusalem, inhabitantibus Betuliam et Betomesthaim, quae est supra descensum contra Esdrelon, contra faciem campi prope Dothain,

6. And Joakim, the high priest, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan,

7. dicens ut obtinerent ascensus montanae, quoniam per eos erat introitus in Iudaeam et erat facile prohibere ascendentes, eo quod angustus esset accessus viris plus quam duobus.

7. ordering them to seize the passes up into the hills, since by them Judea could be invaded, and it was easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, only wide enough for two men at the most.

8. Et fecerunt filii Israel, sicut constituerat illis Ioachim sacerdos magnus et seniores totius plebis Israel, qui sedebant in Ierusalem.

8. So the Israelites did as Joakim the high priest and the senate of the whole people of Israel, in session at Jerusalem, had given order.

9. Et exclamavit omnis vir Israel ad Deum in instantia magna, et humiliaverunt animas suas in ieiunio magno;

9. And every man of Israel cried out to God with great fervor, and they humbled themselves with much fasting.

10. ipsi et mulieres eorum et infantes eorum et iumenta eorum et omnis advena et mercennarius et argento emptus eorum posuerunt cilicia super lumbos suos.

10. They and their wives and their children and their cattle and every resident alien and hired laborer and purchased slave -- they all girded themselves with sackcloth.

11. Et omnis vir Israel et mulier et pueri, qui habitabant in Ierusalem, prociderunt ante faciem templi et cineraverunt capita sua et extenderunt cilicia sua contra faciem templi Domini.

11. And all the men and women of Israel, and their children, living at Jerusalem, prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord.

12. Et altare cilicio cooperuerunt et clamaverunt ad Deum Israel unanimes instanter, ut non daret in rapinam infantes eorum et mulieres in praedam et civitates hereditatis eorum in exterminium et sancta in maculationem et in improperium, gaudium gentibus.

12. They even surrounded the altar with sackcloth and cried out in unison, praying earnestly to the God of Israel not to give up their infants as prey and their wives as booty, and the cities they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles.

13. Et audivit Dominus vocem eorum et vidit angustiam eorum; et erat populus ieiunans dies plures in tota Iudaea et Ierusalem, et prociderunt contra faciem sanctorum Domini omnipotentis.

13. So the Lord heard their prayers and looked upon their affliction; for the people fasted many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.

14. Et Ioachim sacerdos magnus et omnes adstantes ante conspectum Domini sacerdotes et deservientes Domino praecincti ciliciis lumbos suos offerebant holocaustum instantiae et vota et voluntaria munera populi.

14. And Joakim the high priest and all the priests who stood before the Lord and ministered to the Lord, with their loins girded with sackcloth, offered the continual burnt offerings and the vows and freewill offerings of the people.

15. Et erat cinis super cidares eorum, et clamabant ad Dominum ex omni virtute, ut in bonum visitaret omnem domum Israel.

15. With ashes upon their turbans, they cried out to the Lord with all their might to look with favor upon the whole house of Israel.