16 Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes heart was ravished with her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. 17So Holofernes said to her, Have a drink and be merry with us! 18Judith said, I will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life. 19Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him. 20Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.
13When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his masters presence. They went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted so long. 2But Judith was left alone in the tent, with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was dead drunk.
3 Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did on the other days; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. She had said the same thing to Bagoas. 4So everyone went out, and no one, either small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in her heart, O Lord God of all might, look in this hour on the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. 5Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out my design to destroy the enemies who have risen up against us.
6 She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes head, and took down his sword that hung there. 7She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel! 8Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. 9Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterwards she went out and gave Holofernes head to her maid, 10who placed it in her food bag.
Then the two of them went out together, as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They passed through the camp, circled around the valley, and went up the mountain to Bethulia, and came to its gates. 11From a distance Judith called out to the sentries at the gates, Open, open the gate! God, our God, is with us, still showing his power in Israel and his strength against our enemies, as he has done today!
12 When the people of her town heard her voice, they hurried down to the town gate and summoned the elders of the town.
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New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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v 2.9.2
30 June 2021