Judg 4:1, 3-24, 10:7, 17, 11:4-33, 1Sa 4:1 | ESV | STEP | And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died .

3 Then the people of Israel ^bcried out to the Lord for help, for he had ^c900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in ^dthe hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned ^eBarak the son of Abinoam from ^fKedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount ^gTabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by ^hthe river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, ⁱand I will give him into your hand’?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will ^jsell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out ^kZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber ^lthe Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of ^mHobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in ⁿZaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, ^o900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which ^pthe Lord has given Sisera into your hand. ^qDoes not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 ^rAnd the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened ^sa skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23 ^tSo on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Judges 10:7

7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ^uhe sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,

Judges 10:17

17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ^vMizpah.

Judges 11:4-33

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of ^wTob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and ^xbe our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ^y“The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people ^zmade him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words ^aabefore the Lord at ^abMizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^ac“Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the ^adArnon to the ^aeJabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^afIsrael did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness ^agto the Red Sea and ^ahcame to Kadesh. 17 ^aiIsrael then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ ^ajbut the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^akremained at Kadesh.

18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and ^alwent around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and ^amarrived on the east side of the land of Moab and ^ancamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 ^aoIsrael then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what ^apChemosh your god gives you to possess? ^aqAnd all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than ^arBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived ^asin Heshbon and its villages, and ^atin Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. ^auThe Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

Jephthah’s Tragic Vow

29 ^avThen the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah ^awmade a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever ^{▼▼Or whoever} comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites ^ayshall be the Lord’s, and ^azI will offer it ^{▼▼Or him} up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of ^bbMinnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

1 Samuel 4:1

The Philistines Capture the Ark

1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at ^bcEbenezer, and the Philistines encamped at ^bdAphek.