Judith - chapter 9 (excerpt) - prayer

9: 2 - 14 (translated by Edgar Goodspeed)
Lord God of my father Symeon, in whose hand You put a sword to take vengeance on the aliens who had loosened a maiden's headdress to defile her and stripped her thigh to shame her, and profaned her womb to disgrace her; for you said, 'It must not be done,' yet they did it.  So You gave up their rulers to be killed, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, to be stained with blood, and You struck down slaves upon princes and princes upon their thrones, and You gave up their wives to plunder and their daughters to captivity and all their spoils to be divided among Your beloved sons, who were very zealous for You and abhorred the pollution of their blood and called on You for help.  O God, my God, listen to a widow like me.  For You made what preceded those things, and those things, and what followed them, and You design the present and future, and what you meditate comes to pass. The things You plan present themselves and say, 'Here we are.'  For all Your ways stand ready, and You judge with foreknowledge.  For here the Assyrians are multiplied in their might, they are exalted over horse and rider, they glory in the arm of the foot soldiers, they place their hope in shield and spear and bow and sling, and do not know that You are a lord that crushes wars.  The Lord is Your name; break their strength with Your might, and shatter their force in Your anger, for they plan to profane Your sanctuary, to pollute the tent where Your glorious name rests, to strike down the horn of Your altar with the sword.  Look at their arrogance, direct Your anger upon their heads, put in the hand of a widow like me the strength to do what I have planned.  With my deceitful lips strike down the slave with the ruler and the ruler with his servant, break down their state with a woman's hand.  For Your strength is not in numbers nor Your might in the strong, but You are the God of the lowly, the helper of the inferior, the champion of the weak, the protector of the neglected, the savior of the despairing.  Yes, God of my father, and God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of the heavens and the earth, Creator of the waters, King of all Your creation, hear my prayer and make my deceitful words the wound and stripe of those who have planned such cruelty against Your agreement and Your consecrated house, and Mount Zion and the house Your sons possess.  Make Your whole nation and every tribe to know and understand that You are God, the God of all power and might, and that the nation of Israel has not protector but you."