1
Then Judith said to them, "My friends, please follow my advice. In the morning, take this head and hang it on the town wall.
2
Appoint a leader for yourselves, and at sunrise have all your able-bodied men take their weapons and march out of the town with him, as if they were going down into the valley to attack the Assyrian outpost.
3
The Assyrian guards will grab their weapons and rush back to camp to wake up their officers. The officers will run to Holofernes' tent but will not find him, and the whole army will be terrified and retreat as you advance against them.
4
Then you and all the other Israelites will be able to follow them and kill them as they retreat.
5
But before you do any of this, send Achior the Ammonite to me. I want to see if he recognizes Holofernes, the man who spoke of Israel with contempt and sent Achior to us, thinking he would be killed along with the rest of us."
6
So they called Achior from Uzziah's house. But when he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hands of one of the men, Achior fainted and fell to the floor.
7
When they had helped him up, Achior bowed at Judith's feet in respect. "May every family in the land of Judah praise you," he said, "and may every nation tremble with terror when they hear your name.
8
Please tell me how you managed to do this." While all the people were gathered around, Judith told him everything that she had done from the day she left the town until that moment.