10 ¹ When Judith had ceased crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words, 10 ² she rose from where she lay prostrate and called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her feast days; 10 ³ and she removed the sackcloth which she had been wearing, and took off her widow's garments, and bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment, and combed her hair and put on a tiara, and arrayed herself in her gayest apparel, which she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. 10 ⁴ And she put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets and bracelets and rings, and her earrings and all her ornaments, and made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all men who might see her. 10 ⁵ And she gave her maid a bottle of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with parched grain and a cake of dried fruit and fine bread; and she wrapped up all her vessels and gave them to her to carry.

10 ⁶ Then they went out to the city gate of Bethulia, and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmis. 10 ⁷ When they saw her, and noted how her face was altered and her clothing changed, they greatly admired her beauty, and said to her, 10 ⁸ "May the God of our fathers grant you favour and fulfil your plans, that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted." And she worshipped God.

10 ⁹ Then she said to them, "Order the gate of the city to be opened for me, and I will go out and accomplish the things about which you spoke with me." So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she had said. 10 ¹⁰ When they had done this, Judith went out, she and her maid with her; and the men of the city watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley and they could no longer see her.

10 ¹¹ The women went straight on through the valley; and an Assyrian patrol met her 10 ¹² and took her into custody, and 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. 10 ¹³ I am on my way to the presence of Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him a true report; and 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."

10 ¹⁴ When the men heard her words, and observed her face - she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful - they said to her, 10 ¹⁵ "You have saved your life by hurrying down to the presence of our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to him. 10 ¹⁶ And when you stand before him, do not be afraid in your heart, but tell him just what you have said, and he will treat you well."

10 ¹⁷ They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. 10 ¹⁸ There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent, and they came and stood around her as she waited outside the tent of Holofernes while they told him about her. 10 ¹⁹ And they marveled at her beauty, and admired the Israelites, judging them by her, and every one said to his neighbour, "Who can despise these people, who have women like this among them? Surely not a man of them had better be left alive, for if we let them go they will be able to ensnare the whole world!"

10 ²⁰ Then Holofernes' companions and all his servants came out and led her into the tent. 10 ²¹ Holofernes was resting on his bed, under a canopy which was woven with purple and gold and emeralds and precious stones. 10 ²² When they told him of her he came forward to the front of the tent, with silver lamps carried before him. 10 ²³ And when Judith came into the presence of Holofernes and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face; and she prostrated herself and made obeisance to him, and his slaves raised her up.

11 ¹ Then Holofernes said to her, "Take courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt any one who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of all the earth. 11 ² And even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them; but they have brought all this on themselves. 11 ³ And now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us - since you have come to safety. 11 ⁴ Have courage; you will live, tonight and from now on. No one will hurt you, but all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar."

11 ⁵ Judith replied to him, "Accept the words of your servant, and let your maidservant speak in your presence, and I will tell nothing false to my lord this night. 11 ⁶ And if you follow out the words of your maidservant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes. 11 ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar the king of the whole earth lives, and as his power endures, who had sent you to direct every living soul, not only do men serve him because of you, but also the beasts of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live by your power under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. 11 ⁸ For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you are the one good man in the whole kingdom, thoroughly informed and marvelous in military strategy.

11 ⁹ "Now as for the things Achior said in your council, we have heard his words, for the men of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you. 11 ¹⁰ Therefore, my lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true: our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their God.

11 ¹¹ "And 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. 11 ¹² Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their cattle and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. 11 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 at Jerusalem - although it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch these things with their hands. 11 ¹⁴ They have sent men to Jerusalem, because even the people living there have been doing this, to bring back to them permission from the senate. 11 ¹⁵ When the word reaches them and they proceed to do this, on that very day they will be handed over to you to be destroyed.

11 ¹⁶ "Therefore, when I, your servant, learned all this, I fled from them; and God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world, as many as shall hear about them. 11 ¹⁷ For your servant is religious, and serves the God of heaven day and night; therefore, my lord, I will remain with you, and every night your servant will go out into the valley, and I will pray to God and he will tell me when they have committed their sins. 11 ¹⁸ And I will come and tell you, and then you shall go out with your whole army, and not one of them will withstand you. 11 ¹⁹ Then I will lead you through the middle of Judea, till you come to Jerusalem; and I will set your throne in the midst of it; and you will lead them like sheep that have no shepherd, and not a dog will so much as open its mouth to growl at you. For this has been told me, by my foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you."

11 ²⁰ Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and they marveled at her wisdom and said, 11 ²¹ "There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, either for beauty of face or wisdom of speech!" 11 ²² And Holofernes said to her, "God has done well to send you before the people, to lend strength to our hands and to bring destruction upon those who have slighted my lord. 11 ²³ You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech; and if you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the house of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world."