Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version begin a new paragraph at this point as Judith changes the subject, urging the leaders not to do certain things. She affirms that God will help. Translators may follow Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version if they wish.

For never in our generation, nor in these present days: These two phrases may be combined into “None of us who are living today.”

Tribe or family or people or city of ours: These four nouns are used to indicate divisions of Israel, but they are not used here with any legal precision. Almost any terms designating some smaller units within Israel will work, as long as they are not anachronistic (such as “state” or “county”). New English Bible has the most reasonable equivalents to the Greek: “tribes or clans, districts or towns.” However, in some languages one will need to say “no person in any tribe or clan, district or town [or, village]” or “no person in any family group, district or town [or, village].”

Worshiped gods made with hands may be rendered “worshiped gods that people have made.”

As was done in days gone by: This clause deals with generations that are not recent. Good News Translation‘s “even though our ancestors used to do so” appears to contradict the preceding part of the verse. The meaning of the whole verse is “None of our people worship idols now [ in these present days] nor have they in recent generations [the word generation is plural]. However, this did happen in the past.” This is not a reference to polytheistic worship in the days before Abraham, but in the days of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah—more recent ancestors. In spite of the book’s setting, Judith speaks for the postexilic Jewish community. As was done days gone by must remain at the end of the verse, so as to connect with the following verse.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• There is not one person of our tribes or clans, districts or towns that worships gods made by humans, or has even done so recently—although many of our ancestors did.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.