The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 249: Prayer of Judith (2025)

Episode Date: September 6, 2025

Fr. Mike highlights the wisdom and faith of Judith, heroine of the Old Testament, and shows us how her prayer in not just a prayer of intercession, but also one of praise. The readings are Jeremiah 37-38, Judith 8-9, and Proverbs 17:5-8. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 249. We are reading from Jeremiah chapter 37 and 38. Also, Judith 8 and 9.

We finally get introduced to Judith today, as well as Proverbs, chapter 17, verses 5 through 8, as always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year, reading plan, you can visit Ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe. Let's get after it because it is day 249.

We're reading Jeremiah 37 and 38, introduced to Judith herself in Judith 8 and 9 and Proverbs chapter 17, verses 5 through 8. The book of the prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 37, Zedekiah asks Jeremiah's prayers. Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Konaya, the son of Jeholyakim. But neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to the words of the Lord, which he spoke through Jeremiah, the prophet. King Zedekiah sent Jehukal, the son of Shalamaya, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maasiah,

to Jeremiah, the prophet, saying, pray for us, to the Lord our God. Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet. Thus says the Lord, God of Israel, thus shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, behold, Pharaoh's army which came to help you, is about to return to Egypt to its own land. And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall take it

and burn it with fire. Thus says the Lord, do not deceive yourselves, saying the Chaldeans will surely stay away from us, for they will not stay away. For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent they would rise up and burn this city with fire. Jeremiah is imprisoned. Now, when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people. When he was at the Benjamin gate, a sentry there, named Erija, the son of Shalamaya, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet saying,

You are deserting to the Chaldeans. And Jeremiah said, it is false, I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But Irija would not listen to him and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. and the princes were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan, the secretary, for it had been made a prison. When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, Is there any word from the Lord? Jeremiah said, There is. Then he said, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah also said

to King Zedekiah. What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, the king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land? Now here I beg you, oh my lord the king, let my humble plea come before you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan, the secretary, lest I die there. So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard, and a loaf of bread was given him daily from the baker's street until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. Chapter 38. Jeremiah in the cistern.

Now, Shefetaya, the son of Matan, Gedalaya, the son of Pashore, Jukal, the son of Shalemaiah, and Pashore, the son of Malkaya, heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, thus says the Lord. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestil. but he who goes out to the chaldeans shall live he shall have his life as a prize of war and live thus says the lord this city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of babylon and be taken then the princes said to the king let this man be put to death for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them for this man is not seeking the welfare of this people but their harm. King Zedekiah said,

Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you. So, they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malkhaya, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire. Ebedmelik rescues Jeremiah. When Ebedmelik, the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin gate. Ebbad mellock went from the king's house and said to the king, My lord, the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the

city. Then the king commanded Eid melech, the Ethiopian, take three men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies. So, Ebed Melik took the men with him and went to the house of the king to a wardrobe of the storehouse and took from there old rags and worn out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. Then, Ebed melech, the Ethiopian, said to Jeremiah, put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes. Jeremiah did so.

Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a question. Hide nothing from me. Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, if I tell you, will you not be sure to put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me. Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, as the Lord lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. If you will surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans,

and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not. escape from their hand. King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they abuse me. Jeremiah said, you shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me. Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the princes of the king of Babylon and were saying your trusted friends have deceived you and prevailed

against you. Now that your feet are sunk in the mire, they turn away from you. All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. If the prince is here that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, tell us what you said to the king, and what the king said to you, hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death, then you shall say to them, I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there. Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had

instructed him. So they left off speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken. The Book of Judith, Chapter 8 The Character of Judith At that time, Judith heard about these things. She was the daughter of Marari, the son of Ox, son of Joseph, son of Aziel, son of Elkaya, son of Ananias, son of Gideon, son of Raphaim, son of Ahitub,

son of Elijah, son of Hilkaya, son of Eliab, son of Nathaniel, son of Salamiel, son of Sarasadai, son of Israel. Her husband, Manasa, who belonged to her tribe and family, had died during the barley harvest. For as he stood overseeing the men who were binding sheaves in the field, he was overcome by the burning heat and took to his bed and died in Bithulia his city. So they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothan and Balaman. Judith had lived at home as a widow for three years and four months. She set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house and belted sackcloth about her loins and wore the garments of her widowhood.

She fasted all the days of her widowhood except the day before the Sabbath and the Sabbath itself, the day before the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the feasts and days of rejoicing of the house of Israel. She was beautiful in appearance and had a very lovely face. She was prudent of heart, discerning in judgment, and quite virtuous. Her husband, Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the son of Ahitoub, the son of Melchis, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathaniel, the son of Sarasadai, the son of Simeon, had left her gold and silver and men and women's slaves and cattle and fields, and she maintained this estate. No one spoke ill of her, for she feared God with great devotion. Judith rebukes the elders. When Judith heard the wicked words

spoken by the people against the ruler because they were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzziah said to them, and how he promised them under oath to surrender the city to the Assyrians after five days, she sent her maid who was in charge of all she possessed to summon Chabris and Charmes, the elders of her city. They came to her, and she said to them, Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia. What you have said to the people today is not right. You have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you promising to surrender the city to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you that have put God to the test this day and are setting your.

ourselves up in the place of God among the sons of men. You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you will never know anything. You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart, nor find out what a man is thinking. How do you expect to search out God who made all these things and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brethren, do not provoke the Lord our God to anger, for if he does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our enemies. Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God, for God is not like man to be threatened, nor like a human being, to be won over by pleading.

Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice if it pleases him. For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or family or people or city of ours which worshipped gods made with hands, as was done in is gone by. And that was why our fathers were handed over to the sword and to be plundered, and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies. But we know no other God but him, and therefore we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation. For if we are captured, all Judea will be captured, and our sanctuary will be plundered, and he will

exact of us the penalty for its desecration. And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the land, and the desolation of our inheritance, all this, he will bring upon our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves, and we shall be an offense and a reproach in the eyes of those who acquire us. For our slavery will not bring us into favor, but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonor. Now, therefore, brethren, let us set an example to our brethren, for their lives depend upon us, and the sanctuary and the temple and the altar rest upon us. In spite of everything, Let us give thanks to the Lord our God who is putting us to the test

as he did our forefathers. Remember what he did with Abraham and how he tested Isaac and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia in Syria while he was keeping the sheep of Laban his mother's brother. For he has not tried us with fire

as he did them to search their hearts nor has he taken revenge upon us. But the Lord scourges those who draw near to him in order to admonish them. Then Uzziah said to her, All that you have said has been spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words.

Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart's disposition is right. But the people were very thirsty, and they compelled us to do for them what we have promised and made us take an oath which we cannot break. So pray for us, since you are a devout woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we will no longer be faint. Judith said to them, Listen to me. I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants.

Stand at the city gate tonight, and I will go out with my maid, and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand. Only, do not try to find out what I plan, for I will not tell you until I have finished what I'm about to do. Uzziah and the rulers said to her, Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you. you to take revenge upon our enemies. So they returned from the tent and went to their posts. Chapter 9. The Prayer of Judith

Then Judith fell upon her face and put ashes on her head and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. And at the very time when that evening's incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice and said, O Lord God of my father, Simeon, to whom you gave a sword to take revenge on the strangers who had loosed the girdle of a virgin to defile her, and uncovered her thigh to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her, for you have said, it shall not be done, yet they did it. So you gave up their rulers to be slain, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, to be stained with blood, and you struck down slaves along with princes, and princes

on their thrones, and you gave their wives for a prey and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among your beloved sons, who were zealous for you, and abhorred the pollution of their blood and called on you for help. Oh, God, my God, hear me also a widow. For you have done all these things, and those that went before, and those that followed. You have designed the things that are now and those that are to come. Yes, the things you intended came to pass, and the things you will to present to themselves and said, behold, we are here. For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgment is with foreknowledge. behold now the assyrians are increased in their might they are exalted with their horses and riders

they glory in the strength of their foot soldiers they trust in shield and spear in bow and sling and know not that you are the lord who crushes wars the lord is your name break their strength by your might and bring down their power and your anger for they intend to defile your sanctuary and to pollute the tabernacle where your glorious name rests and to cast down the horn of your altar with the sword. Behold their pride and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me a widow the strength to do what I plan. By the deceit of my lips, strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant. Crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman. For your power depends not upon numbers, nor your might upon men of strength. For you are good.

God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forlorn, savior of those without hope. Here, oh, hear me, God of my father, God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, creator of the waters, king of all your creation, hear my prayer. Make my deceitful words to be their wound and stripe. For they have planned cruel things against your covenant and against your consecrated house, and against the top of Zion, and against the house possessed by your children, and cause your whole nation and every tribe to know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel, but you alone.

The book of Proverbs chapter 17, verses 5 through 8. He who mocks the poor insults his maker. He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of sons is their fathers. Fine speech is not becoming to a fool. Still less is false speech to a prince. A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of him who gives it. Wherever he turns, he prospers. Father in heaven, we give you praising glory. We thank you so much. I, gosh, Lord, thank you. Thank you for the witness of Jeremiah. Thank you for the courage and faithfulness

of Judah. Thank you so much for the fact that we're not the first people to walk this road. Whatever road walking today, we're not the first upon this path, that there are so many who have walked before this, who have walked in trial, have walked in testing, I've walked in darkness and not knowing where the path would lead, but knowing that you are with them, that you are with us nor God surround us not only with your grace and your presence but also remind us that we are surrounded by those who have gone before us that cloud of witnesses from Hebrews chapter 12 that cloud of witnesses that cheers us on that prays for us intercedes on our behalf that gives glory to you and intercedes for us we're not the first Lord God and we will not be the last but help us to be

faithful in Jesus name we pray amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit Amen. Okay, so just quick. He who mocks the poor insults his maker. Yep, that's, that's, that's right, right? Those who just kind of exalt themselves? I mean, and he who mocks the poor? The poor, who are they? They could be anyone, right? Basically, anyone without, anyone that our world would see as less than. So, um, anyone who has without power, it could be the poor. But here's the next line. He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. And we have to ask the question like, okay, how often, how often do I, take some kind of pleasure in the suffering of others. Like how often do I take even some kind of pleasure in in finding out, you know, news, the gossip, or be able to say, you know, this person or that

person that I don't like. They made a bad decision. So even when it comes to celebrities, when it comes to politics, when it comes to church leadership, maybe there's some people that I don't agree with them and I don't see them as being quote unquote on my side or however this goes. And if they do something bad and I get happy about that or they fail and I get happy about that, that is that's not good right we recognize that that is that is a weakness in our in our own character when we rejoice in the failings of others or in the calamity of others and so just a good way in which we can let our hearts be pierced once again by god's word let's go into jeremiah and judith okay Jeremiah and not having a good day Jeremiah we jumped back up to king zedekiah right we i think yesterday

we're with king jehoakim and jehoiacim and now we're back with zedekiah remember zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, that he is kind of a puppet king, essentially, and what happens is he comes to Jeremiah, says, hey, tell me, I won't say anything, but what's going on? Like, what do I need to know? And Jeremiah tells him the same thing he's been telling him this entire time, that you need to surrender to the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem will continue to stand, and the people will be saved, and God will ultimately win. But if you fight, then I got to tell you, Nebuchadnezzar is going to win.

and you're going to be destroyed. And I love this because, you know, on so many human levels, you can completely understand why the leaders would be upset with Jeremiah, especially those who are trying to rally the troops, especially those who are trying to get people to, like, be on the side of like, let's keep fighting, let's keep going. I mean, honestly, if you thought that that was the way to go, you would hate someone like Jeremiah who keeps saying,

no, the thing we need to do is, and God even says this, we need to surrender, that you think, like, no, it's so backwards. And so that's what they do. What do they do? They throw them into first he's in prison and then they throw him in the cistern. And there's something about him being in the cistern that is just so, so good. What I mean by so good is the vision, the image of Jeremiah and says this in chapter 38. He was let down into the cistern by ropes.

And there was no water in the cistern, but only mire and Jeremiah sank in the mire. And I say that's so good in just terms of not like that was great for Jeremiah, but the visual Jeremiah sank in the mire. There's something about the prophet Jeremiah. He allowed himself to suffer with the people. These people were suffering. The city was suffering. The whole land of Judah was suffering.

And Jeremiah didn't exempt himself from that suffering. In fact, he had a chance. I mean, he could have gone to Babylon. He could have surrendered and gone with the people into exile in Babylon and done fine. He could have stopped preaching. In fact, he says that. I wish I could do this. I wish I could just stop saying what I have to say.

but if I do, if I stop saying God's word, then it burns in my heart and I have to speak out. I have to cry out. But he doesn't do that. He allows himself to suffer with the people. He's an image of Christ in that. And even that image of him, Jeremiah sank in the mire. It's an image of just, yeah, of Jesus. An image of Jesus who does not exempt himself from our suffering, does not exempt himself

from our pain, but enters deeply into our suffering, enters deeply into our mire. And it's just, what a gift. Ebed Melek, the Ethiopian, a hero who comes and rescues Jeremiah. He goes to the king and says, listen, we can't do this. He's the prophet. And, you know, for whatever reason, Zetekai listens to him, it's so good. But, but what's going to happen is tomorrow, the fall of Jerusalem. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar has already had two waves of exiles going to Babylon.

And yet, Jerusalem. still stands, it will not stand much longer. And so we have to know that that. Now, on the other hand, when it comes to victory, we finally were introduced to Judith. And I think I mentioned before that this incredible, incredible heroine of the Old Testament, Judith. And hopefully now with chapters 8 and 9, you get a sense of who this woman is and what her character was. In fact, the whole description at the beginning of chapter 8 is the character of Judith. She's beautiful. and that's going to play into the story as we move forward. But she's also, as Scripture says, she's also prudent.

She has discerning in judgment. She's quite virtuous. There's this sense of like Judith is, she's the bomb.com. Like she is incredible. And I love this as she rebukes the elders. Remember yesterday, Uzziah said, listen, people of Bethuliah, I know it's been 34 days without water. We're going to give God five more days and he's going to save us. And if he doesn't, that's fine.

but Judith says to the elders and Uzziah listen you can't give God a timeline and this is oh my gosh talk about piercing the heart you can't give God a timeline how many of us want to give God a timeline all of the all of the time where our temptation is okay God you need to help me by this point and if you don't then whatever the consequences are we've got some kind of ultimatum as if as if we can bribe God into helping us as we can convince God here's the thing God I know you I know you I know you love more than than love better, love infinitely, love perfectly. But if you don't love me the way I want you to love me in the time I want you to love me and all these going to say, according to my rules and my expectations, then, no, I don't, I'm not going to let you be God in my

life. And Judith says you can't. You can't do that. And I love this because Uzziah, in response to Judith, Uzziah says, yeah. I love it. He says, all that you have said, has been. been spoken out of a true heart and there is no one who can deny your words. Today's not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life, all the people have recognized your understanding for your heart's disposition is right. Now, a couple things. Your heart's disposition is right. Not simply that, oh, Judith, you've studied more than anyone else. In our world, we have reduced wisdom to knowledge and we've reduced knowledge to data. Like, I know a lot of facts. I know a lot of trivia. So the people we hold up as being like the

wisest are just people who know the most people who have the most facts and yet real wisdom is not just knowing the facts real wisdom is not just studying i mean it's great to study we want to be we want to love the lord with all our heart and mind soul and strength so we need to use our minds but judith is not wise because she's learned so much she's wise because she has her heart is right your heart's disposition is right and it's so incredibly important he he says the people have recognized your understanding why because your heart's disposition is right and at the same time he says but the people were very thirsty and so i did we took an oath and i can't break it so pray for us and she says i love it she said okay listen to me i'm about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our

descendants and i'm about to do this thing i'm not going to tell you what it is but um just be ready then i love this prayer in chapter nine and i invite you to go back and to read the prayer of judith what an incredible incredible trust in the Lord and not only trust in the Lord it is a prayer of praise one of the things that we have is prayers of praise and thanksgiving and when we praise God we honor him for who he is we thank God we honor him for what he's done and this prayer of judith is not simply intercession not just hey I'm about to do this thing I really need help it is full of praise it is full of thanksgiving I mean how many times in this in this simple prayer does Judith describe God to God?

She says, you are the God of the lowly. You're the helper of the oppressed, the abholder of the weak, protector of the forlorn, savior of those without hope. You guys, if you ever, ever want to give God praise, it's that, it's that.

It's being able to talk to God saying, here's who you are. You are the Lord of Heaven and Earth. You are the creator of the waters. You're king of all your creation. And, oh, gosh, Judith's prayer of intercession is a profound and beautiful prayer of praise.

And remember, Praise goes up first. Judith and Judah are very similar. My guess is that Judith's name is a derivation of Judah. And maybe Judith's name also means praise, which would make a lot of sense because her prayer of petition, her prayer of intercession is, I would say, almost above everything else is a prayer of praise. I give God thanks for who he, well, obviously for who he is and give God praise for who he is. But I also give God thanks for you. Here we are, day 249. And here we are at minute, whatever we're at and this long day of scripture reading and this long day of my attempt at explaining,

explaining, explanation. And here we are together. Oh, and I give God thanks for you. Thank you so much for being part of this community. Thank you so much for continuing this journey. You do not have to have listened to this every day without fail. You just, because here it is, here it is. Day 249, you made it to this day.

Whether it was perfect every single day or whether there were some stumbles in there, it doesn't matter because you made it to, day, today 249. And that's, that's not small. It's not little. That's pretty important. And so are you. So please, please pray for me. I am praying for you. My name's Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. Thank you.