She summoned Uzziah and the other city elders and scolded them: “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 town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs?” (NRSV, Judith 8:12–13) Eloquently, she continued, “You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brothers, do not anger the Lord our God.” (NRSV, Judith 8:14) She encouraged the elders to wait for God’s deliverance.