Given by: the people of Bethulia crying out to God under the siege, as recorded by the narrator of Judith. Given to: the reader, shown the honest confession that belongs in the mouth of God's people in distress.

Israel's tradition of communal confession bound each generation to the sins of its fathers; to say 'we have sinned' was to stand in solidarity with the whole covenant people under God's just judgement, not to plead a private innocence.

We have sinned with our fathers we have done unjustly, we have commited iniquity:

Own your sin plainly before God, naming the wrong done rather than excusing or hiding it.

Judith 7:19

Your Spirit

Loves God

Loves Neighbor

Your Body

Moral Behaviour