OZIAS. Surely thou canst not. For thou too art great. And my greatness yearns to thine. JUDITH. Wilt thou listen? OZIAS. I hear. JUDITH. With this greatness of thine goes deceit and laxity of mind. OZIAS. Yet when thou didst thy mighty deed didst thou not deceive cruelly? JUDITH. I deceived not for myself, but for Israel; and my guile was for the glory of God. But thy heart is set only upon advancement and power, which is corruption. OZIAS. Judith, canst thou not lift thy thoughts beyond good and evil, and canst thou not contemplate the marvellous greatness of man? I will abase myself before none but thee, and in my ear there is no commandment but thine; and all other decrees will I mock. I would have thee in marriage, and I would have no other but thee. Wilt thou take me to thee, and wilt thou yield thyself without fear to the terrible flame of my love? For thus shalt thou fulfil thyself and me. But give heed before thou answerest, and know that if thou turnest from me, I will make all the nations of the earth to tremble with my fury. JUDITH. Thou art great also in thy loving. OZIAS. Once thou didst love me. JUDITH. Nay! I but looked upon thee in kindness. But now I will not go to thee in marriage. OZIAS (_half admiring_). Thou art not then afraid of my wrath! JUDITH. I am Judith. OZIAS (_with a fresh access of violence_). Thou hungerest for Achior. Wouldst thou marry a heathen, thou a Hebrew woman? JUDITH. And thou, if I had not accomplished the will of the Lord, and if thou hadst been carried to Babylon as thou saidst, wouldst thou not have denied the Most High and gone after other gods? But Achior believeth in our God, and this day will be joined into the house of Israel. OZIAS (_savagely scornful_). What is Achior but a simpleton! JUDITH. It may be. But I love him and he shall rule me ... for he came hither for a sign from the Lord. OZIAS (_savagely resentful_). Oh! If I did not love thee, would I not undo thee! JUDITH. Thou! Thou art Ozias, but I am she who cut off the head of a mightier than thou, even Holofernes in his tent. Go thy ways and fulfil greatness. As for me I will remain obediently in my house, and truth and righteousness shall reign in my house. (_The procession returns, the women bearing the banners of the Assyrians_. Achior _enters from the house_.) (Judith _is crowned with olives_.) JUDITH. And now let the priests and the elders enter with me into my house, and Achior shall follow them, so that he may be received into Israel, and I will be betrothed to him with all the ceremonies of the law, for he came to me as a messenger from God. And when the marriage has been performed, I will submit myself to him as a wife to her husband. HAGGITH. And let Ingur also be received into Israel, for he has repented of his idolatries. And he shall be my husband, yet shall he not rule me.