Judith 12:10-13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes. 10 On the fourth day Holofernes gave a banquet for his servants alone, to which he did not invite any of the officers. 11 And he said to Bagoas, the eunuch in charge of his personal affairs, “Go and persuade the Hebrew woman in your care to come and to eat and drink with us. 12 It would bring shame on us to be with such a woman without enjoying her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.”(A)
13 So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and came to Judith and said, “So lovely a maidservant should not be reluctant to come to my lord to be honored by him, to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to act 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 is pleasing to him I will promptly do. This will be a joy[a] for me until the day of my death.”
15 So she proceeded to put on her festive garments and all her finery. Meanwhile her servant went ahead and spread out on the ground opposite Holofernes the fleece Bagoas had furnished for her daily use in reclining while eating.(B) 16 Then Judith came in and reclined. The heart of Holofernes was in rapture over her and his passion was aroused. He was burning with the desire to possess her, for he had been biding his time to seduce her from the day he saw her.(C) 17 Holofernes said to her, “Drink and be happy with us!” 18 Judith replied, “I will gladly drink, my lord, for today is the greatest day of my whole life.” 19 She then took the things her servant had prepared and ate and drank in his presence. 20 Holofernes, charmed by her, drank a great quantity of wine, more than he had ever drunk on any day since he was born.
Chapter 13
Judith Beheads Holofernes. 1 When it grew late, his servants quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from the outside and dismissed the attendants from their master’s presence. They went off to their beds, for they were all tired because the banquet had lasted so long. 2 Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes, who lay sprawled on his bed, for he was drunk with wine. 3 Judith had ordered her maidservant to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait, as on the other days, for her to come out; she had said she would be going out for her prayer. She had also said this same thing to Bagoas.
4 When all had departed, and no one, small or great, was left in the bedchamber, Judith stood by Holofernes’ bed and prayed silently, “O Lord, God of all might, in this hour look graciously on the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. 5 Now is the time for aiding your heritage and for carrying out my design to shatter the enemies who have risen against us.”(D) 6 She went to the bedpost near the head of Holofernes, and taking his sword from it, 7 she drew close to the bed, grasped the hair of his head, and said, “Strengthen me this day, Lord, God of Israel!” 8 Then with all her might she struck his neck twice and cut off his head.(E) 9 She rolled his body off the bed and took the canopy from its posts. Soon afterward, she came out and handed over the head of Holofernes to her maid, 10 who put it into her food bag. Then the two went out together for prayer as they were accustomed to do.
Judith and Her Maid Return to Bethulia. They passed through the camp, and skirting that valley, went up the mountain to Bethulia, and approached its gates.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.