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 Remains Faithful to Her Religion
1 Holofernes commanded his
men to take Judith to the table
which was set with his silverware
and to serve her some of his
own special food and wine.
2 But Judith
refused. “I cannot eat your
food,” she said, “for I would be
breaking the laws of my God. I will
eat only what I have brought with
me.” note
3 “But what will you do when
your food and wine are gone?” Holofernes
asked. “Where will we get
more food for you? There are no Israelites
here in our camp.”
4 “Sir,” Judith answered, “as
surely as you live, I have more than
enough food to last until the Lord
has used me to carry out his plan.”
5 Then Holofernes' personal servants
led Judith to a tent. She slept
there until the time of the morning
watch just before dawn, when she
got up
6 and sent a message to Holofernes
requesting permission to go
out into the valley to pray.
7 Holofernes
ordered his guards to let Judith
leave the camp. So for three days Judith
lived in the camp, and each
night she would go out to the valley
near Bethulia and bathe at the
spring.
8 After she had bathed, she
would pray to the Lord God to guide
her in her plan to bring victory to Israel.
9 Then she would return to the
camp ritually pure and remain in her
tent until after the evening meal.
Holofernes' Banquet
10 On the fourth day of Judith's
stay in the camp, Holofernes gave a
banquet for his highest ranking officers,
but he did not invite any of the
officers who were on duty.
11 He said
to Bagoas, the eunuch who was in
charge of his personal affairs, “Go
and persuade the Hebrew woman,
who is in your care, to come to my
tent to eat and drink with us.
12 It
would be a shame to pass up an opportunity
to make love to a woman
like that. If I don't try to seduce her,
she will laugh at me.”
13 So Bagoas left Holofernes and
went to Judith. “Lovely lady,” he
said, “the general invites you to his
tent for some drinks. Come and enjoy
yourself like the Assyrian
women who serve in Nebuchadnezzar's
palace. This is a great honor.”
14 “I shall be glad to accept,” Judith
answered. “How could I refuse?
I'll remember this happy night as
long as I live.”
15 So Judith got up and put on her
prettiest clothes. Her slave woman
went ahead of her and placed on the
ground in front of Holofernes the
lamb skins that Bagoas had given
Judith to sit on when she ate.
16 Judith
came into the tent and sat down
there. Holofernes was aroused when
he saw her and had an uncontrollable
desire to make love to her. From
the first day he had seen her, he had
been waiting for a chance to seduce
her.
17 “Join us for a drink and enjoy
yourself,” he said to her.
18 “I'll be glad to, sir,” Judith replied;
“this is the happiest day of my
life.”
19 But even then Judith ate and
drank only what her slave had prepared.
20 Holofernes was so charmed
by her that he drank more wine than
he had ever drunk at one time in his
whole life.
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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