8 “We will be praying that the God of our ancestors will help you carry out your plans, so that the people of Israel will be blessed and the city of Jerusalem will be honored.”Judith bowed in prayer,
9 then replied, “Tell someone to open the town gate, so that I can do all these things.”They told some young men to open the gate,
10 and Judith and her servant walked down the hill and into the valley. The young men watched them until they were out of sight.
11 As Judith and her servant woman were walking through the valley near Bethulia, they were seen by a group of Assyrian soldiers patrolling the area.
12 The soldiers arrested Judith and asked, “What nationality are you? Tell us where you're coming from and where you're going.”She said, “I am a Hebrew from Bethulia. But I am running away, because your army is about to completely wipe out my hometown!
13 I'm on my way to tell General Holofernes how to invade the hill country of Israel and capture every town, without letting any of his soldiers be captured or killed.”
14 The men noticed that Judith was very beautiful. So after she finished talking, they said,