Judith 13

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Now when the evening was come, his servants made haste to depart, and Bagoas shut his tent without, and dismissed the waiters from the presence of his lord; and they went to their beds: for they were all weary, because the feast had been long.

Now when the evening was come, his servants made haste to depart, and Bagoas shut his tent without, and dismissed the waiters from the presence of his lord; and they went to their beds; for they were all weary, because the feast had been long — the tent emptied by its own household: weariness dismissing every witness, and the door shut from outside by the keeper of all he had.

2And Judith was left along in the tent, and Holofernes lying along upon his bed: for he was filled with wine.

And Judith was left alone in the tent, and Holofernes lying along upon his bed; for he was filled with wine — the two figures of the book alone at last: the widow standing, the captain prone, and the wine — the essence he drank past all his measure — lying where the strength was.

3Now Judith had commanded her maid to stand without her bedchamber, and to wait for her coming forth, as she did daily: for she said she would go forth to her prayers, and she spake to Bagoas according to the same purpose.

Now Judith had commanded her maid to stand without her bedchamber, and to wait for her coming forth, as she did daily; for she said she would go forth to her prayers, and she spoke to Bagoas according to the same purpose — the nightly rhythm doing its final work: the maid posted as always, the prayer announced as always, so that nothing of this night looks different from the three before it.

4So all went forth and none was left in the bedchamber, neither little nor great. Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, O Lord God of all power, look at this present upon the works of mine hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem.

So all went forth and none was left in the bedchamber, neither little nor great. Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart: O Lord God of all power, look at this present upon the works of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem — the established center of spiritual consciousness: the last prayer silent, in the heart, standing by the bed — look upon the works of my hands, as she asked in chapter nine that He behold their pride.

5For now is the time to help thine inheritance, and to execute mine enterprizes to the destruction of the enemies which are risen against us.

For now is the time to help Your inheritance, and to execute my enterprises to the destruction of the enemies which are risen against us — the time named: not the governors' five days, but this present hour, known by the woman standing in it.

6Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes’ head, and took down his fauchion from thence,

Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes' head, and took down his fauchion from thence — his own sword, the cutting word of the empire, hanging at his head: the instrument of the deliverance supplied by the delivered-against, from his own bedpost.

7And approached to his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.

And approached to his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day — the hand in the hair, and the prayer a single sentence: strength asked at the moment of exertion, not before it.

8And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him.

And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him — twice, with all her might: the book refusing to make it easy or single. The head of the commanding faculty severed by the widow's hand, as prayed — the prince smitten, and the stateliness of the empire broken, by the hand of a woman.

9And tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the pillars; and anon after she went forth, and gave Holofernes his head to her maid;

And tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the pillars; and anon after she went forth, and gave Holofernes his head to her maid — the canopy of purple and gold pulled down with the body: the woven splendour of chapter ten ending as a shroud on the floor. The head passed to the maid's hands without a word recorded.

10And she put it in her bag of meat: so they twain went together according to their custom unto prayer: and when they passed the camp, they compassed the valley, and went up the mountain of Bethulia, and came to the gates thereof.

And she put it in her bag of meat: so they twain went together according to their custom unto prayer; and when they passed the camp, they compassed the valley, and went up the mountain of Bethulia, and came to the gates thereof — the provision bag receiving its final freight: the vessel of her faithfulness become the vessel of the deliverance. And the road out is the road of the nightly prayers — custom itself escorting them through the sleeping camp, up the mountain, to the gates.

11Then said Judith afar off, to the watchmen at the gate, Open, open now the gate: God, even our God, is with us, to shew his power yet in Jerusalem, and his forces against the enemy, as he hath even done this day.

Then said Judith afar off, to the watchmen at the gate: Open, open now the gate: God, even our God, is with us, to show His power yet in Jerusalem, and His forces against the enemy, as He has even done this day — the voice arriving before the woman: open, doubled. The power shown this day announced to the gate before the proof is shown to the city.

12Now when the men of her city heard her voice, they made haste to go down to the gate of their city, and they called the elders of the city.

Now when the men of her city heard her voice, they made haste to go down to the gate of their city, and they called the elders of the city — her voice recognised in the dark by the men who watched her vanish down the mountain: haste answering haste.

13And then they ran all together, both small and great, for it was strange unto them that she was come: so they opened the gate, and received them, and made a fire for a light, and stood round about them.

And then they ran all together, both small and great, for it was strange unto them that she was come: so they opened the gate, and received them, and made a fire for a light, and stood round about them — the whole state running together at the gate, fire kindled for light in the night: understanding dawning in the city around two women and a bag.

14Then she said to them with a loud voice, Praise, praise God, praise God, I say, for he hath not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel, but hath destroyed our enemies by mine hands this night.

Then she said to them with a loud voice: Praise, praise God, praise God, I say, for He has not taken away His mercy from the house of Israel, but has destroyed our enemies by my hands this night — praise commanded threefold before evidence is offered: mercy not taken away — the assembly's theology of abandonment answered in its first clause.

15So she took the head out of the bag, and shewed it, and said unto them, behold the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, and behold the canopy, wherein he did lie in his drunkenness; and the Lord hath smitten him by the hand of a woman.

So she took the head out of the bag, and showed it, and said unto them: Behold the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, and behold the canopy, wherein he did lie in his drunkenness; and the Lord has smitten him by the hand of a woman — the evidence produced from the provision bag: head and canopy, the man and his splendour, and the sentence of chapter nine fulfilled in its own words — by the hand of a woman.

16As the Lord liveth, who hath kept me in my way that I went, my countenance hath deceived him to his destruction, and yet hath he not committed sin with me, to defile and shame me.

As the Lord lives, who has kept me in my way that I went, my countenance has deceived him to his destruction, and yet has he not committed sin with me, to defile and shame me — the oath of the kept way: the countenance confessed as the instrument, and the purity of the widow witnessed before the whole city — the deceit and the undefilement held together without flinching.

17Then all the people were wonderfully astonished, and bowed themselves and worshipped God, and said with one accord, Blessed be thou, O our God, which hast this day brought to nought the enemies of thy people.

Then all the people were wonderfully astonished, and bowed themselves and worshipped God, and said with one accord: Blessed be You, O our God, who has this day brought to nought the enemies of Your people — astonishment becoming worship in one motion: the city that assembled to demand surrender now assembled in one accord of blessing.

18Then said Ozias unto her, O daughter, blessed art thou of the most high God above all the women upon the earth; and blessed be the Lord God, which hath created the heavens and the earth, which hath directed thee to the cutting off of the head of the chief of our enemies.

Then said Ozias unto her: O daughter, blessed are you of the most high God — the Source under His title of height — above all the women upon the earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who has created the heavens and the earth — the inner realm and the outer world — who has directed you to the cutting off of the head of the chief of our enemies: the governor who set the deadline now blessing above all women the woman who broke it — directed, he says, and the word is exact.

19For this thy confidence shall not depart from the heart of men, which remember the power of God for ever.

For this your confidence shall not depart from the heart of men, who remember the power of God for ever — the thing she promised in chapter eight, that it should go throughout all generations, here prophesied back to her by the prince's own mouth.

20And God turn these things to thee for a perpetual praise, to visit thee in good things because thou hast not spared thy life for the affliction of our nation, but hast revenged our ruin, walking a straight way before our God. And all the people said; So be it, so be it.

And God turn these things to you for a perpetual praise, to visit you in good things because you have not spared your life for the affliction of our nation, but have revenged our ruin, walking a straight way before our God. And all the people said: So be it, so be it — the blessing closing on the straight way: the road down the mountain and up it again, walked without deviation. The people's doubled Amen seals the night.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.