Judith 10:1-13:10

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Judith Prepares to Go to Holofernes

10 When Judith^[a] had stopped crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words, ² she rose from where she lay prostrate. She called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her festal days. ³ She removed the sackcloth she had been wearing, took off her widow’s garments, bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed herself in the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. ⁴ She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her other jewelry. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men who might see her. ⁵ She gave her maid a skin of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with roasted grain, dried fig cakes, and fine bread;^[b] then she wrapped up all her dishes and gave them to her to carry.

⁶ Then they went out to the town gate of Bethulia and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the town, Chabris and Charmis. ⁷ When they saw her transformed in appearance and dressed differently, they were very greatly astounded at her beauty and said to her, ⁸ “May the God of our ancestors grant you favor and fulfill your plans, so that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted.” She bowed down to God.

⁹ Then she said to them, “Order the gate of the town to be opened for me so that I may go out and accomplish the things you have just said to me.” So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she requested. ¹⁰ When they had done this, Judith went out, accompanied by her maid. The men of the town watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley, where they lost sight of her.

Judith Is Captured

¹¹ As the women^[c] were going straight on through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met her ¹² and took her into custody. They asked her, “To what people do you belong, and where are you coming from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured. ¹³ I am on my way to see Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him a true report; I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain.”

¹⁴ When the men heard her words, and observed her face—she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful—they said to her, ¹⁵ “You have saved your life by hurrying down to see our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to him. ¹⁶ When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart, but tell him what you have just said, and he will treat you well.”

¹⁷ They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. ¹⁸ There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent. They came and gathered around her as she stood outside the tent of Holofernes, waiting until they told him about her. ¹⁹ They marveled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them by her. They said to one another, “Who can despise these people, who have women like this among them? It is not wise to leave one of their men alive, for if we let them go they will be able to beguile the whole world!”

Judith Is Brought before Holofernes

²⁰ Then the guards of Holofernes and all his servants came out and led her into the tent. ²¹ Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy that was woven with purple and gold, emeralds and other precious stones. ²² When they told him of her, he came to the front of the tent, with silver lamps carried before him. ²³ When Judith came into the presence of Holofernes^[d] and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She prostrated herself and did obeisance to him, but his slaves raised her up.

11 Then Holofernes said to her, “Take courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth. ² Even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them. They have brought this on themselves. ³ But now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us. In any event, you have come to safety. Take courage! You will live tonight and ever after. ⁴ No one will hurt you. Rather, all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar.”

Judith Explains Her Presence

⁵ Judith answered him, “Accept the words of your slave, and let your servant speak in your presence. I will say nothing false to my lord this night. ⁶ If you follow out the words of your servant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes. ⁷ By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to direct every living being! Not only do human beings serve him because of you, but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live, because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. ⁸ For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you alone are the best in the whole kingdom, the most informed and the most astounding in military strategy.

⁹ “Now as for Achior’s speech in your council, we have heard his words, for the people of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you. ¹⁰ Therefore, lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true. Indeed our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their God.

¹¹ “But now, in order that my lord may not be defeated and his purpose frustrated, death will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them by which they are about to provoke their God to anger when they do what is wrong. ¹² Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their livestock and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. ¹³ They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in Jerusalem—things it is not lawful for any of the people even to touch with their hands. ¹⁴ Since even the people in Jerusalem have been doing this, they have sent messengers there in order to bring back permission from the council of the elders. ¹⁵ When the response reaches them and they act upon it, on that very day they will be handed over to you to be destroyed.

¹⁶ “So when I, your slave, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world wherever people shall hear about them. ¹⁷ Your servant is indeed God-fearing and serves the God of heaven night and day. So, my lord, I will remain with you; but every night your servant will go out into the valley and pray to God. He will tell me when they have committed their sins. ¹⁸ Then I will come and tell you, so that you may go out with your whole army, and not one of them will be able to withstand you. ¹⁹ Then I will lead you through Judea, until you come to Jerusalem; there I will set your throne.^[e] You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you. For this was told me to give me foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you.”

²⁰ Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants. They marveled at her wisdom and said, ²¹ “No other woman from one end of the earth to the other looks so beautiful or speaks so wisely!” ²² Then Holofernes said to her, “God has done well to send you ahead of the people, to strengthen our hands and bring destruction on those who have despised my lord. ²³ You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech. If you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world.”

Judith as a Guest of Holofernes

12 Then he commanded them to bring her in where his silver dinnerware was kept, and ordered them to set a table for her with some of his own delicacies, and with some of his own wine to drink. ² But Judith said, “I cannot partake of them, or it will be an offense; but I will have enough with the things I brought with me.” ³ Holofernes said to her, “If your supply runs out, where can we get you more of the same? For none of your people are here with us.” ⁴ Judith replied, “As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up the supplies I have with me before the Lord carries out by my hand what he has determined.”

⁵ Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight. Toward the morning watch she got up ⁶ and sent this message to Holofernes: “Let my lord now give orders to allow your servant to go out and pray.” ⁷ So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp three days. She went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp.^{[f] 8} After bathing, she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his^[g] people. ⁹ Then she returned purified and stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening.

Judith Attends Holofernes’ Banquet

¹⁰ On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his personal attendants only, and did not invite any of his officers. ¹¹ He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs, “Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and to eat and drink with us. ¹² For it would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without having intercourse with her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.”

¹³ So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and approached her and said, “Let this pretty girl not hesitate to come to my lord to be honored in his presence, and to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to become today like one of the Assyrian women who serve in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.” ¹⁴ Judith replied, “Who am I to refuse my lord? Whatever pleases him I will do at once, and it will be a joy to me until the day of my death.” ¹⁵ So she proceeded to dress herself in all her woman’s finery. Her maid went ahead and spread for her on the ground before Holofernes the lambskins she had received from Bagoas for her daily use in reclining.

¹⁶ Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes’ heart was ravished with her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. ¹⁷ So Holofernes said to her, “Have a drink and be merry with us!” ¹⁸ Judith said, “I will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life.” ¹⁹ Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him. ²⁰ Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.

Judith Beheads Holofernes

13 When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his master’s presence. They went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted so long. ² But Judith was left alone in the tent, with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was dead drunk.

³ Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did on the other days; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. She had said the same thing to Bagoas. ⁴ So everyone went out, and no one, either small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in her heart, “O Lord God of all might, look in this hour on the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. ⁵ Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out my design to destroy the enemies who have risen up against us.”

⁶ She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. ⁷ She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!” ⁸ Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. ⁹ Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, ¹⁰ who placed it in her food bag.

Judith Returns to Bethulia

Then the two of them went out together, as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They passed through the camp, circled around the valley, and went up the mountain to Bethulia, and came to its gates.