17. “Bring me oil and soap,” she said to the maids, “and shut the garden gates while I bathe.”
18. They did as she said; they shut the garden gates and left by the side gate to fetch what she had ordered, unaware that the elders were hidden inside.
19. As soon as the maids had left, the two old men got up and ran to her.
20. “Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, no one can see us, and we want you. So give in to our desire, and lie with us.
21. If you refuse, we will testify against you that a young man was here with you and that is why you sent your maids away.”
22. “I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned. “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.
23. Yet it is better for me not to do it and to fall into your power than to sin before the Lord.”
24. Then Susanna screamed, and the two old men also shouted at her,