1 Then Holofernes had her brought into the place where his silver dishes were laid out and commanded them to serve her from his food and to give her his wine to drink.
2 But Judith said, “I will not eat it for fear that it might be the occasion of my downfall. What I have brought with me is sufficient.”
3 Holo fernes said to her, “When you have finished the things that you have brought, where will we be able to get the same kind of food to give you, for there is no one of your race here?”
4 Judith said to him, “As your soul lives my lord, your servant will not have finished what I have brought with me be fore the Lord will have carried out by my hand what he has decided to do.”
5 Then the officers of Holofernes led her to the tent and she slept until midnight. She arose at the morning watch
6 and sent a message to Holo fernes, “Will my lord command that his ser vant be allowed to go out to pray.”
7 Holofernes ordered his bodyguards not to prevent her from doing so.
She remained in the camp three days. Each night she went to the ravine of Bethulia and bathed herself in the spring which was in the camp.
8 When she returned to the tent, she prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, that he would guide her steps in the right path to bring about the release of her people;
9 and now purified, once she had returned, she remained in the tent until she took her food towards evening.
In the tent of Holofernes
10 Then on the fourth day, Holo fernes gave a banquet for his personal servants without sending invitations to any of his officers.
11 He said to the eunuch Bagoas who looked after his affairs, “Go and persuade this Hebrew woman who is under your care to come eat and drink with us,
12 for it would be a disgrace if we allowed such a woman to depart without having enjoyed her com pany. If we are not able to allure her, she will laugh at us.”
13 So Bagoas left Holo fernes and entered Judith’s tent, and said to her, “Will this beautiful slave not hesitate to come to my lord’s tent to be honored in his presence, merrily to drink wine with us and to become this very day like an Assy rian woman who dwells in the house of Nebuchad nezzar?”
14 Ju dith said to him, “Who am I to go against the wishes of my Lord? All that pleases him I will hasten to do and that will be for me a joy until the day of my death.”
15 Then she arose; she dressed in her beautiful garments and all the finery of a woman. Her servant went and spread on the ground, in front of Holofernes, the fleece which Judith had received from Bagoas for her daily use so that she could recline on it while she ate.
16 So Judith entered the tent and took her place. The heart of Holo fernes was ravished by her beauty, his whole being was captivated and he had a passionate desire to possess her. Ever since the first day he had seen her, he had been waiting for an occasion to seduce her.
17 Holofernes said to her: “Drink and share our happiness.”
18 Judith said, “I will drink then, my lord, because today my life has become more precious to me than on any other day since my birth.”
19 She took what her servant had prepared for her and ate and drank in front of him.
20 Holo fernes was bewitched by her and he drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk on any single day since his birth.
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Comments Judith, Chapter 12
• 12.10 In the dialogue between Judith and Holofernes, note how Judith says “my Lord” giving these words a double meaning. She does not lie, but she speaks in such a way that Holofernes takes it for himself meanwhile Judith means her Lord.