Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Judith Goes to the Camp of Holofernes
1 When Judith had finished her
prayer to the God of Israel,
2 she stood up, called her slave
woman, and went down into the
house as she always did on Sabbaths
and festival days.
3 She took off the
sackcloth and her widow's clothes,
took a bath, and put on rich perfumes.
She brushed her hair, tied a
ribbon around it, and dressed herself
in the fine clothes she used to wear
on joyful occasions when her husband
Manasseh was still alive.
4 She
put on sandals and all her finest jewelry:
rings and earrings, and bracelets
on her wrists and ankles. She
made herself so beautiful that she
was sure to attract the attention of
any man who saw her.
5 Judith gave
her slave woman a leather bag of
wine and a jar of oil to carry. She
filled a bag with roasted barley,
cakes of dried figs, and several
loaves of bread baked according to
Jewish food laws. She carefully
wrapped all the food and dishes and
gave them to her slave.
6 Then the
two women left the house and went
to the gates of Bethulia, where they
-- --
found Uzziah and the town officials,
Chabris and Charmis, standing
guard.
7 When the men saw Judith
after she had changed clothes and
put on make-up, they were struck by
her beauty and said to her,
8 “May
the God of our fathers bless you and
make your plan successful, so that
you may bring glory to Jerusalem
and victory to Israel.”
8 Judith prayed
9 and then said,
“Have the men open the gates for
me. I am on my way to do what we
were talking about.” Then they ordered
the young men to open the
gates for her,
10 and Judith and her
slave left the city. The men watched
her as she went down the mountain
into the valley, until she was out of
sight.
11 As the two women were walking
through the valley, an Assyrian patrol
met them.
12 They arrested Judith
and questioned her, “What is
your nationality? Where did you
come from, and where are you
going?”
12 “I am a Hebrew,” she answered,
“but I am running away from the Israelites
because God is going to let
you destroy them.
13 I am on my way
to see Holofernes, the general in
command of your army, to give him
some reliable information. I can
show him how to advance into the
mountains and take control of the
entire region without a single casualty.”
14 The men stared at her because
she was so beautiful. They listened
to her story and said,
15 “You have
saved your life by coming down here
to see our general. Some of our men
will take you to his headquarters
and present you to him.
16 Do not be
afraid of him. Just tell him what you
have told us, and he will treat you
well.”
17 They assigned a hundred
men to escort Judith and her slave to
the headquarters of Holofernes.
18 There was great commotion in
the Assyrian camp as news of Judith's
arrival spread from tent to
tent. While she stood outside the
tent of Holofernes waiting to be presented
to him, many Assyrian soldiers
came and stood around her.
19 They were greatly impressed by
her beauty and wondered what kind
of people the Israelites were. “Who
can have contempt for people whose
women are so beautiful?” they asked
one another. “We had better kill all
the men, or else these Jews will be
able to charm the whole world.”
20 Then Holofernes' bodyguard
and his personal servants came out
and led Judith into the tent.
21 Holofernes
was resting on his bed under
a mosquito net woven of purple and
gold thread and decorated with emeralds
and other precious stones.
-- --
22 When the men told him that Judith
had arrived, he came to the
outer part of the tent. Silver lamps
were carried ahead of him.
23 When
Judith came near him and his servants,
they were all astonished at her
beauty. She bowed down to the
ground before Holofernes, but his
servants helped her to her feet.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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