Judges 4

Deborah and Barak

1 aAnd the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2And the Lord bsold them into the hand of cJabin king of Canaan, who reigned in dHazor. The commander of his army was eSisera, who lived in fHarosheth-hagoyim. 3Then the people of Israel gcried out to the Lord for help, for he had h900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in ithe hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6She sent and summoned jBarak the son of Abinoam from kKedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount lTabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by mthe river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, nand I will give him into your hand’?” 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9And 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 osell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10And Barak called out pZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

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

12When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13Sisera called out all his chariots, t900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which uthe Lord has given Sisera into your hand. vDoes not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 wAnd 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. 16And 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.

17But 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. 18And 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. 19And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened xa skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21But 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. 22And 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 ySo on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24And 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 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

1 zThen sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that aathe people offered themselves willingly,
bless the Lord!
3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, abwhen you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
acthe earth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
5The mountains adquaked before the Lord,
aeeven Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of afShamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of agJael, ahthe highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
7The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 aiWhen new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
ajWas shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who akoffered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 “Tell of it, alyou who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets

and you who walk by the way.
11To the sound of musicians
Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
at the watering places,
there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.
“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
12 aoAwake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, aplead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
14From aqEphraim their root arthey marched down into the valley,
Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek

following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from atMachir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s
Hebrew commander’s
staff;
15the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to avBarak;
into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
16Why did you sit still awamong the sheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17 axGilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
ayand Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
azAsher sat still baat the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
18 bbZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
bcNaphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at bdTaanach, by the waters of beMegiddo;
bfthey got no spoils of silver.
20 bgFrom heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 bhThe torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22 Then loud beat the horseshoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
bibecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24 “Most blessed of women be bjJael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 bkHe asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26 blShe sent her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he felldead.
28 bmOut of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through bnthe lattice:
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
30‘Have they not found and bodivided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31 bpSo may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be bqlike the sun bras he rises in his might.”
bsAnd the land had rest for forty years.

2 Kings 18:7

7 btAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, buhe prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
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