Judith 12

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Then he commanded to bring her in where his plate was set; and bade that they should prepare for her of his own meats, and that she should drink of his own wine.

Then he commanded to bring her in where his plate was set; and bade that they should prepare for her of his own meats, and that she should drink of his own wine — the captain's table opened to her: the empire's nourishment and its wine — its spiritual essence as the empire pours it — set before the woman who carries her own.

2And Judith said, I will not eat thereof, lest there be an offence: but provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought.

And Judith said: I will not eat thereof, lest there be an offence; but provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought — the refusal courteous and absolute: the besieged woman will not be fed by the besieger, lest the feeding itself become the offence.

3Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision should fail, how should we give thee the like? for there be none with us of thy nation.

Then Holofernes said unto her: If your provision should fail, how should we give you the like? For there be none with us of your nation — the practical question of the camp, asked in ignorance of what her provision is really for: it needs to last only until the work is done.

4Then said Judith unto him As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine hand the things that he hath determined.

Then said Judith unto him: As your soul lives, my lord, your handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by my hand the things that He has determined — the oath sworn by his soul, and true past his hearing: her provision will outlast the interval, because the interval is short.

5Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,

Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch — rest taken inside the enemy's tent as inside her own discipline: the hidden state, and the rising before the dawn.

6And sent to Holofernes, saving, Let my lord now command that thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.

And sent to Holofernes, saying: Let my lord now command that your handmaid may go forth unto prayer — permission requested for the act that is the whole errand: the prayer she told him of, asked for by name.

7Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp.

Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp — the guard ordered to wave her through: the empire's own command opening the camp's gate nightly to the woman who will empty its tent. Three days of rhythm established — going out, washing, returning — until the rhythm itself is invisible.

8And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.

And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people — the prayer in the valley, within sight of both camp and city: direction asked for the raising up, not for escape.

9So she came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did eat her meat at evening.

So she came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did eat her meat at evening — clean from the washing, fed from her own bag, keeping her order entire inside his.

10And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants only, and called none of the officers to the banquet.

And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants only, and called none of the officers to the banquet — the fourth day narrowing the company: servants only, the officers excluded — the stage emptying itself of witnesses by the host's own choice.

11Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had, Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee, that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us.

Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had: Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman who is with you, that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us — the invitation sent through the keeper of all he had: desire delegating its errand.

12For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman go, not having had her company; for if we draw her not unto us, she will laugh us to scorn.

For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman go, not having had her company; for if we draw her not unto us, she will laugh us to scorn — the motive confessed to his servant: not love, not even appetite first, but shame — the fear of her scorn. The commanding faculty of the empire moved by the dread of a widow's laugh.

13Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holofernes, and came to her, and he said, Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us and be made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor.

Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holofernes, and came to her, and he said: Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us and be made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, who serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor — the invitation dressed in honour: to be made as one of the daughters of the empire, serving in the confusion-king's house — assimilation offered as a compliment to the woman sent to end the assimilation of nations.

14Then said Judith unto him, Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord? surely whatsoever pleaseth him I will do speedily, and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death.

Then said Judith unto him: Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord? Surely whatsoever pleases him I will do speedily, and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death — the acceptance spoken in the forms of submission, and truer than the messenger can carry: it shall indeed be her joy unto the day of her death, and his unto the day of his.

15So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel and all her woman’s attire, and her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her over against Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas far her daily use, that she might sit and eat upon them.

So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel and all her woman's attire, and her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her over against Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas for her daily use, that she might sit and eat upon them — the skins laid by her own maid's hands, her own place prepared within his feast: even at his table, her order serves her.

16Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes his heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company; for he waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he had seen her.

Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes his heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company; for he waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he had seen her — the deceiver deceived in the plainest sentence of the book: he waited a time to deceive her. The faculty that plotted deception sits ravished before the deception it did not plot.

17Then said Holofernes unto her, Drink now, and be merry with us.

Then said Holofernes unto her: Drink now, and be merry with us — the host pressing the cup he will himself drain.

18So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.

So Judith said: I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born — her one unguarded sentence of the night, and it passes as a compliment: her life magnified this day above all her days — the widow of the rooftop naming, in his hearing, the hour of her life's work.

19Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared.

Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared — her own food, to the end: the last meal in the tent eaten from the bag that will presently carry more than food.

20And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born.

And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born — the record of a lifetime's drinking broken on the night it matters: the empire's captain drinking himself, by his own hand, out of command.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.