10 On the fourth day of Judith's stay in the camp, Holofernes gave a banquet for his highest-ranking officers, but he did not invite any of the officers who were on duty.
11 He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who was in charge of his personal affairs, “Go and persuade the Hebrew woman, who is in your care, to come to my tent to eat and drink with us.
12 It would be a disgrace to let slip an opportunity to make love to a woman like that. If I don't try to seduce her, she will laugh at me.”
13 So Bagoas left Holofernes and went to Judith. “Lovely lady,” he said, “the general invites you to his tent for some drinks. Come and enjoy yourself like the Assyrian women who serve in Nebuchadnezzar's palace. This is a great honour.”
14 “I shall be glad to accept,” Judith answered. “How could I refuse? I'll remember this happy night as long as I live.”
15 So Judith got up and put on her prettiest clothes. Her slave woman went ahead of her and placed on the ground in front of Holofernes the lambskins that Bagoas had given Judith to sit on when she ate.
16 Judith came into the tent and sat down there. Holofernes was aroused when he saw her and had an uncontrollable desire to make love to her. From the first day he had seen her, he had been waiting for a chance to seduce her.