21. If you don't, we will go to court and swear that we saw you send your servants away, so that you could be alone with a young man.”
22. “There is no way out,” Susanna moaned. “If I give in to you, I could be put to death for adultery. If I refuse, you will still have me trapped.
23. But I would rather be your innocent victim than sin against the Lord.”
24. So she started screaming as loud as she could, and the two judges began shouting accusations,
25. while one of them ran and unlocked the gates.
26. As soon as the servants in the house heard all the noise, they ran into the gardens through the side door to find out what had happened to Susanna.
27. The judges told their story, and the servants were shocked and ashamed. Such a thing had never been said about Susanna before.
28. The next day, when the people assembled at Joakim's house, the two judges arrived, fully determined to carry out their wicked plan to have Susanna put to death.
29. In front of all the people they said, “Send for Joakim's wife Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah.” When she was called,
30. she came in with her parents, her children, and all her other relatives.
31. Susanna was so graceful and beautiful
32. that the two wicked men ordered her veil to be removed, so that they might enjoy looking at her.
33. Her family and everyone else were in tears.
34. Then the two judges stood up in front of the people, placed their hands on Susanna's head, and began making their accusations against her.
35. She was crying, but she looked up to heaven because she trusted the Lord.
36. The two men gave the following testimony: “We were walking in the garden when this woman came in with her two servant women. She locked the main gates and asked the servants to leave.
37. Then a young man who had been hiding in the garden came to her, and they lay down together.
38. We were in a corner of the garden, and when we saw what was happening, we ran over
39. and caught them in the act. We tried to hold on to the man, but he was too strong for us. He ran and opened the gates and got away,
40. but we were able to hold the woman. We asked her who the man was, but she refused to tell us. We swear that our testimony is true.”