2049 verses about Courage

And when the disturbance of the men that were around the council had ceased, Holofernes the chief captain of the army of Asshur said to Achior and to all the children of Moab before all the people of the foreigners,

“And who are you, Achior, and the hirelings of Ephraim, that you have prophesied among us as today, and have said that we should not make war with the race of Israel, because their God will defend them? And who is God but Nebuchadnezzar?

And if you hope in your heart that they will not be taken, don’t let your countenance fall. I have spoken it, and none of my words will fall to the ground. ”

When the men of the city saw them on the top of the hill, they took up their weapons, and went out of the city against them to the top of the hill. Every man that used a sling kept them from coming up, and cast stones against them.

But the children of Israel descended from their city, and came to him, untied him, led him away into Bethulia, and presented him to the rulers of their city;

He answered and declared to them the words of the council of Holofernes, and all the words that he had spoken in the midst of the princes of the children of Asshur, and all the great words that Holofernes had spoken against the house of Israel.

They comforted Achior, and praised him exceedingly.

Then Ozias took him out of the assembly into his house, and made a feast for the elders. They called on the God of Israel for help all that night.

Every mighty man of them moved that day. The army of their men of war was one hundred seventy thousand footmen, plus twelve thousand horsemen, besides the baggage, and the men that were on foot among them: an exceedingly great multitude.

Every man took up his weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires upon their towers, they remained and watched all that night.

“Let our lord now hear a word, that there be not losses in your army.

Remain in your camp, and keep every man of your army safe. Let your servants get possession of the water spring, which flows from the foot of the mountain,

All the army of Asshur remained around them, their footmen and their chariots and their horsemen, thirty-four days. All their vessels of water ran dry for all the inhabitants of Bethulia.

And Ozias said to them, “Brethren, be of good courage! Let us endure five more days, during which the Lord our God will turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly.

They came to her, and she said to them, “Hear me now, O you rulers of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your word that you have spoken before the people this day is not right. You have set the oath which you have pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turns to help you.

For our bondage will not be ordered to favor; but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonor.

And now, kindred, let us show an example to our kindred, because their soul hangs upon us, and the sanctuary, the house, and the altar rest upon us.

And Ozias said to her, “All that you have spoken, you have spoken with a good heart. There is no one who will deny your words.

But the people were exceedingly thirsty, and compelled us to do as we spoke to them, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break.

And now pray you for us, because you are a godly woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we will faint no more.”

Then Judith said to them, “Hear me, and I will do a thing, which will go down to all generations among the children of our race.

You shall all stand at the gate tonight. I will go out with my maid. Within the days after which you said that you would deliver the city to our enemies, the Lord will visit Israel by my hand.

But you shall not inquire of my act; for I will not declare it to you, until the things are finished that I will do.”

Then Ozias and the rulers said to her, “Go in peace. May the Lord God be before you, to take vengeance on our enemies.”

Strike by the deceit of my lips the servant with the prince, and the prince with his servant. Break down their stateliness by the hand of a woman.

They went out to the gate of the city of Bethulia, and found Ozias and the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmis standing by it.

and said to them, “Command that they open the gate of the city for me, and I will go out to accomplish the things you spoke with me about.” And they commanded the young men to open to her, as she had spoken;

and they did so. Then Judith went out, she, and her handmaid with her. Nhe men of the city watched her until she had gone down the mountain, until she had passed the valley, and they could see her no more.

I am coming into the presence of Holofernes the chief captain of your army, to declare words of truth. I will show him a way that he can go and win all the hill country, and there will not be lacking of his men one person, nor one life.”

But when you stand before him, don’t be afraid in your heart, but declare to him according to your words; and he will treat you well.”

And there was great excitement throughout all the camp, for her coming was reported among the tents. They came and surrounded her as she stood outside Holofernes’ tent, until they told him about her.

Holofernes said to her, “Woman, take courage. Don’t be afraid in your heart; for I never hurt anyone who has chosen to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of all the earth.

And now tell me why you fled from them and came to us; for you have come to save yourself. Take courage! You will live tonight, and hereafter;

For we have heard of your wisdom and the subtle plans of your soul. It has been reported in all the earth that you only are brave in all the kingdom, mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war.

Therefore I your servant, knowing all this, fled away from their presence. God sent me to work things with you, at which all the earth will be astonished, even as many as hear it.

Then I will come and show it also to you. Then you shall go out with all your army, and there will be none of them that will resist you.

Judith said, “I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.”

All went away from her presence, and none was left in the bedchamber, small or great. Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, O Lord God of all power, look in this hour upon the works of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem.

For now is the time to help your inheritance, and to do the thing that I have purposed to the destruction of the enemies which have risen up against us.

She came to the rail of the bed, which was at Holofernes’ head, and took down his scimitar from there.

She drew near to the bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.”

She struck twice upon his neck with all her might, and took away his head from him,

tumbled his body down from the bed, and took down the canopy from the pillars. After a little while she went out, and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid;

Judith said afar off to the watchmen at the gates, “Open, open the gate, now. God is with us, even our God, to show his power yet in Israel, and his might against the enemy, as he has done even this day.”

It came to pass, when the men of her city heard her voice, they made haste to go down to the gate of their city, and they called together the elders of the city.

She said to them with a loud voice, “Praise God! Praise him! Praise God, who has not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel, but has destroyed our enemies by my hand tonight!”

Then she took the head out of the bag and showed it, and said to them, “Behold, the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Asshur, and behold, the canopy, in which he laid in his drunkenness. The Lord struck him by the hand of a woman.

And as the Lord lives, who preserved me in my way that I went, my countenance deceived him to his destruction, and he did not commit sin with me, to defile and shame me.”

Ozias said to her, “Blessed are you, daughter, in the sight of the Most High God, above all the women upon the earth; and blessed is the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who directed you to cut off the head of the prince of our enemies.

May God turn these things to you for a perpetual praise, to visit you with good things, because you did not spare your life by reason of the affliction of our race, but avenged our fall, walking a straight way before our God.” And all the people said, “Amen! Amen!”

Judith said to them, “Hear me now, my kindred, and take this head, and hang it upon the battlement of your wall.

It will be, so soon as the morning appears, and the sun comes up on the earth, you shall each take up his weapons of war, and every valiant man of you go out of the city. You shall set a captain over them, as though you would go down to the plain toward the watch of the children of Asshur; but you men shall not go down.

These shall take up their full armor, and shall go into their camp and rouse up the captains of the army of Asshur. They will run together to Holofernes’ tent. They won’t find him. Fear will fall upon them, and they will flee before your face.

You men, and all that inhabit every coast of Israel, shall pursue them and overthrow them as they go.

But when they had recovered him, he fell at Judith’s feet, and bowed down to her, and said, “Blessed are you in every tent of Judah, and in every nation, which hearing your name will be troubled.

Now tell me all the things that you have done in these days.” And Judith declared to him in the midst of the people all the things that she had done, from the day that she went out until the time that she spoke to them.

But as soon as the morning arose, they hanged the head of Holofernes upon the wall, and every man took up his weapons, and they went forth by bands to the ascents of the mountain.

“The slaves have dealt treacherously! One woman of the Hebrews has brought shame upon the house of king Nebuchadnezzar; for, behold, Holofernes lies upon the ground, and his head is not on him!”

Those who had encamped in the hill country round about Bethulia fled away. And then the children of Israel, every one who was a warrior among them, rushed out upon them.

Ozias sent to Betomasthaim, Bebai, Chobai, and Chola, and to every coast of Israel, to tell about the things that had been accomplished, and that all should rush upon their enemies to destroy them.

But wnen the children of Israel heard, they all fell upon them with one accord, and struck them to Chobai. Yes, and in like manner also they of Jerusalem and of all the hill country came (for men had told them about what happened in their enemies’ camp), and those who were in Gilead and in Galilee fell upon their flank with a great slaughter, until they were past Damascus and its borders.

The rest of the people who lived at Bethulia fell upon the camp of Asshur, and plundered them, and were enriched exceedingly.

You have done all these things by your hand. You have done with Israel the things that are good, and God is pleased with it. Blessed be you with the Almighty Lord for evermore.” And all the people said, “Amen!”

And the people plundered the camp for the space of thirty days: and they gave Holofernes’ tent to Judith, along with all his silver cups, his beds, his bowls, and all his furniture. She took them, and placed them on her mule, and prepared her wagons, and heaped them on it.

The they made themselves garlands of olive, she and those who were with her, and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women. All the men of Israel followed in their armor with garlands, and with songs in their mouths.

For the Lord is the God that crushes battles. For in his armies in the midst of the people, he delivered me out of the hand of those who persecuted me.

Asshur came out of the mountains from the north. He came with ten thousands of his army. Its multitude stopped the torrents. Their horsemen covered the hills.

“The Almighty Lord brought them to nothing by the hand of a woman.

For their mighty one did not fall by young men, neither did sons of the Titans strike him. Tall giants didn’t attack him, but Judith the daughter of Merari made him weak with the beauty of her countenance.

“The Persians quaked at her daring. The Medes were daunted at her boldness.

All in the palace bowed down to him, for so the king had given orders to do; but Mordecai did not bow down to him.

So Esther called for her chamberlain Hathach, who waited upon her; and she sent to learn the truth from Mordecai.

And he gave him the copy of the writing that was published in Susa concerning their destruction, to show to Esther; and told him to charge her to go in and entreat the king, and to beg him for the people, remembering, said he , the days of your low estate, how you were nursed by my hand: because Haman who holds the next place to the king has spoken against us for death. Do you call upon the Lord, and speak to the king concerning us, to deliver us from death.

And Esther said to Hathach, Go to Mordecai, and say,

All the nations of the empire know, that whoever, man or woman, shall go in to the king into the inner court uncalled, that person can’t live: only to whoever the king shall stretch out his golden sceptre, he shall live: and I have not been called to go into the king, for these thirty days.

Then Mordecai said to Hathach, Go, and say to her, Esther, say not to yourself that you alone will escape in the kingdom, more than all the other Jews.

For if you shall refuse to hearken on this occasion, help and protection will be to the Jews from another quarter; but you and your father’s house will perish: and who knows, if you have been made queen for this very occasion?

And Esther sent the man that came to her to Mordecai, saying,

Go and assemble the Jews that are in Susa, and fast you⌃ for me, and eat not and drink not for three days, night and day: and I also and my maidens will fast; and then I will go in to the king contrary to the law, even if I must die.

And it came to pass on the third day, when she had ceased praying, that she put off her mean dress, and put on her glorious apparel. And being splendidly arrayed, and having called upon God the Overseer and Preserver of all things, she took her two maids, and she leaned upon one, as a delicate female, and the other followed bearing her train. And she was blooming in the perfection of her beauty; and her face was cheerful, and it were benevolent, but her heart was straitened for fear. And having passed through all the doors, she stood before the king: and he was sitting upon his royal throne, and he had put on all his glorious apparel, covered all over with gold and precious stones, and was very terrible. And having raised his face resplendent with glory, he looked with intense anger: and the queen fell, and changed her color as she fainted; and she bowed herself upon the head of the maid that went before her . But God changed the spirit of the king gentleness, and in intense feeling he sprang from off his throne, and took her into his arms, until she recovered: and he comforted her with peaceful words, and said to her, What is the matter , Esther? I am your brother; be of good cheer, you shall not die, for our command is openly declared to you , Draw near.

And the king said, Who is this that has dared to do this thing?

And she spoke yet again to the king, and fell at his feet, and implored him to do away the mischief of Haman, and all that he had done against the Jews.

Then the king stretched out to Esther the golden sceptre: and Esther arose to stand near the king.

For how shall I be able to look upon the affliction of my people, and how shall I be able to survive the destruction of my kindred?

wherein he charged them to use their own laws in every city, and to help each other, and to treat their adversaries, and those who attacked them, as they pleased,

And let the copies be posted in conspicuous places throughout the kingdom, and let all the Jews be ready against this day, to fight against their enemies. And the following is the copy of the letter of the orders. [The great king Ahasuerus sends greetings to the rulers of provinces in a hundred and twenty-seven satrapies, from India to Ethiopia, even to those who are faithful to our interests. Many who have been frequently honored by the most abundant kindness of their benefactors have conceived ambitious designs, and not only endeavor to hurt our subjects, but moreover, not being able to bear prosperity, they also endeavor to plot against their own benefactors. And they not only would utterly abolish gratitude from among men, but also, elated by the boastings of men who are strangers to all that is good, they supposed that they shall escape the sin-hating vengeance of the ever-seeing God. And oftentimes evil exhortation has made partakers of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, and has involved in irremediable calamities, many of those who had been appointed to offices of authority, who had been entrusted with the management of their friends’ affairs; while men , by the false sophistry of an evil disposition, have deceived the simple candour of the ruling powers. And it is possible to see this , not so much from more ancient traditionary accounts, as it is immediately in your power to see it by examining what things have been wickedly perpetrated by the baseness of men unworthily holding power. And it is right to take heed with regard to the future, that we may maintain the government in undistributed peace for all men, adopting needful changes, and ever judging those cases which come under our notices, with truly equitable decision. For whereas Haman, a Macedonian, the son of Hammedatha, in reality an alien from the blood of the Persians, and differing widely from our mild course of government, having been hospitable entertained by us, obtained so large a share of our universal kindness, as to be called our father, and to continue the person next to the royal throne, reverenced of all; he however , overcome by the pride of his station , endeavored to deprive us of our dominion, and our life: having by various and subtle artifices demanded for destruction both Mordecai our deliverer and perpetual benefactor, and Esther the blameless consort of our kingdom, with their whole nation. For by these methods he thought, having surprised us in a defenceless state, to transfer the dominion of the Persians to the Macedonians. But we find that the Jews, who have been consigned to destruction by the most abominable of men, are not malefactors, but living according to the justest laws, and being the sons of the living God, the most high and mighty, who maintains the kingdom. to us as well as to our forefathers, in the most excellent order. You⌃ will therefore do well in refusing to obey the letter sent by Haman the son of Hammedatha, because he that has done these things, has been hanged with his whole family at the gates of Susa, Almighty God having swiftly returned to him a worthy recompence, We enjoin you then, having openly published a copy of this letter in every place, to give the Jews permission to use their own lawful customs, and to strengthen them, that on the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar, on the self-same day, they may defend themselves against those who attack them in a time of affliction. For in the place of the destruction of the chosen race, Almighty God has granted them this time of gladness. Do you⌃ therefore also, among your notable feasts, keep a distinct day with all festivity, that both now and hereafter it may be a day of deliverance to us and who are well disposed toward the Persians, but to those that plotted against us a memorial of destruction. And every city and province collectively, which shall not do accordingly, shall be consumed with vengeance by spear and fire: it shall be made not only inaccessible to men, but most hateful to wild beasts and birds for ever.] And let the copies be posted in conspicuous places throughout the kingdom and let all the Jews be ready against this day, to fight against their enemies.

And the rest of the Jews who were in the kingdom assembled, and helped one another, and obtained rest from their enemies: for they destroyed fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth day of Adar, but took no spoil.

Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness Before the face of those who afflicted him, And those who make his labors of no account.

And if a man loves righteousness, The fruits of wisdom’s labor are virtues, For she teaches soberness and understanding, righteousness and courage; And there is nothing in life for men more profitable than these.

Dread princes will fear me when they hear of me: Among my people I will show myself a good ruler, and in war courageous.

When a righteous man was sold, wisdom forsook him not, But from sin she delivered him; She went down with him into a dungeon,

She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord, And withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs.

They withstood enemies, and repelled foes.

Deliver him that is wronged from the hand of him that wrongeth him; And be not faint-hearted in giving judgement.

Refrain not speech, when it tendeth to safety; And hide not your wisdom for the sake of fair-seeming.

Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord God will fight for you.

Contend not with a mighty man, Lest haply you fall into his hands.

Hast you heard a word? let it die with you: Be of good courage, it will not burst you.

Timber girded and bound into a building will not be loosed with shaking: So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel will not be afraid.

Go not in a way of conflict; And stumble not in stony places.