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Judith was a very beautiful woman. Her husband had left her gold and silver, servants and slaves, livestock and fields. She continued to supervise the estate,
8
and no one ever said anything bad about Judith. She was a very religious woman.
9
Judith heard how the people were complaining bitterly against Uzziah, now that the water shortage had broken their morale. She learned that in answer to their complaints he had promised to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days.
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Judith sent a slave, the woman who managed her business affairs, to invite Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, the town officials, to her home.
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When the officials arrived, Judith said to them, "Please listen to me. You are the leaders of the people of Bethulia, but you were wrong to speak to the people as you did today. You should not have made a solemn promise before God that you would surrender the town to our enemies if the Lord did not come to our aid within a few days.
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What right do you have to put God to the test as you have done today? Who are you to put yourselves in God's place in dealing with human affairs?
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It is the Lord Almighty that you are putting to the test! Will you never learn?
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There is no way that you can understand what is in the depths of a human heart or find out what a person is thinking. Yet you dare to read God's mind and interpret his thoughts! How can you claim to understand God, the Creator? No, my friends, you must stop arousing the anger of the Lord our God!
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If he decides not to come to our aid within five days, he still may rescue us at any time he chooses. Or he may let our enemies destroy us.
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But you must not lay down conditions for the Lord our God! Do you think that he is like one of us? Do you think you can bargain with him or force him to make a decision?
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No! Instead, we should ask God for his help and wait patiently for him to rescue us. If he wants to, he will answer our cry for help.