(5.) Judith.—An incident of Jewish history during the Persian rule. Judith is set forth as an ideal of piety, beauty, courage, and chastity. Holofernes, a general in the service of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria, conquers many lands, but meets with vigorous resistance in Judea; he besieges Bethulia and endeavours to suppress the Jewish religion. He falls by the hands of Judith. Thus the stratagem and the courage of the Jewish heroine, combined with the plans of Divine justice, frustrated the wicked plans of the heathen conqueror, and delivered the besieged city. (6.) Additions to the Books of Daniel and Ezra, containing— (a.) The song of the three men in the furnace (Dan. iii.). (b.) The false charges brought against Susanna, and her deliverance through Daniel. (c.) Bel and the Dragon. Cyrus, the Persian, worshipped these idols, but was convinced by Daniel that they had no claim whatever to man’s worship. (d.) The apocryphal Book of Esdras, containing portions of the Books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah; only chaps. iii. and iv. being original. In these it is related how Zerubbabel distinguished himself before King Darius in describing Woman and Truth as the mightiest rulers of mankind, and thus obtained permission to return to Palestine and rebuild the Temple. A second apocryphal Book of Esdras is named, in which Ezra is represented as a prophet addressing his brethren in the name of God, and telling them the visions he had. (7.) The Books of the Maccabees.—Three books containing the history of the Maccabees, and various episodes of the wars against the Syrian oppressors, both legendary and historical. Sixth Principle.—“I firmly believe that all the words of the Prophets are true.” By “the Prophets” the prophets thus designated in the Bible are to be understood who have proved themselves to be the true messengers of God, and were accepted as such by the people. They either counselled the people what to do under various circumstances, in times of peace and in times of war, in times of security and in times of danger, or they announced the coming catastrophe as a punishment sent by the Almighty for disobedience, and foretold future happiness and prosperity in case of improvement and return to God. Those prophecies that referred to the proximate future have been verified by subsequent events, and so also will those prophecies that refer to the remote future and have not yet been fulfilled. “A prophet out of thy midst, of thy brethren, like unto me, will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deut. xviii. 15). “The former things, behold, they are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they will spring forth, I shall let you hear” (Isa. xlii. 9). “I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes” (Hosea xii. 11). “And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved” (Ibid. 14).