Judite, 4

1. Ouvindo isso, os israelitas de Judá ficaram alarmados com a aproximação de Holofernes.

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. O medo e o terror apoderaram-se deles, temendo que ele fizesse a Jerusalém e ao Templo do Senhor o mesmo que ele fizera às outras cidades e aos seus templos.

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. Mandaram mensageiros por toda a Samaria e seus arredores até Jericó e ocuparam todos os cumes dos montes.

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. Cercaram de muros todas as suas cidades e armazenaram trigo para poderem sustentar o combate.

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. De seu lado, o sumo sacerdote Eliacim escreveu a todos os que habitavam defronte de Esdrelão, que está fronteira à grande planície vizinha de Dotaia e a todos os das terras pelas quais havia passagens,

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. pedindo-lhes que ocupassem as vertentes montanhosas que davam acesso a Jerusalém e que pusessem guarnições nos desfiladeiros por onde se pudesse passar.

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. Os israelitas executaram todas as ordens de Eliacim, sacerdote do Senhor.

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. Todo o povo orou fervorosamente ao Senhor. Humilharam suas almas com jejuns e orações, eles e suas mulheres.

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. Os sacerdotes vestiram-se de cilício, as crianças prostraram-se diante do Templo do Senhor e cobriu-se o altar do Senhor com um cilício.

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

10. Unidos de coração e de alma, clamaram ao Senhor que não entregasse seus filhos à rapina do vencedor, suas mulheres à devassidão, suas cidades ao extermínio, seu templo à profanação e não permitisse que eles próprios se tornassem o opróbrio das nações pagãs.

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. Eliacim, sumo sacerdote do Senhor, percorreu então todo o país de Israel e falou ao povo*

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. nestes termos: “Estai certos de que o Senhor vos ouvirá, se perseverardes jejuando e orando em sua presença.

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. Lembrai-vos de Moisés, servo do Senhor: Amalec, que confiava em sua força, em seu poder, em seu exército, em seus escudos, em seus carros e cavaleiros, foi derrotado por ele, não com a força das armas, mas com o poder da santa oração.

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. Isso mesmo acontecerá a todos os inimigos de Israel, se perseverardes na obra que começastes”.

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. Com tais exortações, os israelitas puseram-se a orar diante do Senhor.

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.

16. Mesmo aqueles que ofereciam holocaustos ao Senhor, faziam-no revestidos de sacos e com a cabeça coberta de cinzas.

16.

17. E todos rogavam a Deus, de todo o seu coração, que visitasse o seu povo de Israel.

17.