Judges 4:1-6:8 And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.

ERV⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. ² And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. ³ And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. ⁴ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. ⁵ And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded, [saying], Go and draw unto mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? ⁷ And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. ⁸ And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go. ⁹ And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. ¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had severed himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother in law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. ¹² And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. ¹³ And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river Kishon. ¹⁴ And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. ¹⁵ And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera lighted down from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. ¹⁷ Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet 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 went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹ And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. ²⁰ And he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. ²¹ Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent-pin, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. ²² And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples. ²³ So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. ²⁴ And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. ⁵ ¹ Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, ² For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, bless ye the LORD. ³ Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, [even] I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁴ LORD, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water. ⁵ The mountains flowed down at the presence of the LORD, even yon Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁶ In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. ⁷ The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. ⁸ They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? ⁹ My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people: bless ye the LORD. ¹⁰ Tell [of it], ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit on rich carpets, and ye that walk by the way. ¹¹ Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, [even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates. ¹² Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. ¹³ Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people; the LORD came down for me against the mighty. ¹⁴ Out of Ephraim [came down] they whose root is in Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal’s staff. ¹⁵ And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; as was Issachar, so was Barak; into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben there were great resolves of heart. ¹⁶ Why satest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. ¹⁷ Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and abode by his creeks. ¹⁸ Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, and Naphtali, upon the high places of the field. ¹⁹ The kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Canaan; in Taanach by the waters of Meggido: they took no gain of money. ²⁰ They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. ²¹ The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength. ²² Then did the horsehoofs stamp by reason of the pransings, the pransings of their strong ones. ²³ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. ²⁴ Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. ²⁵ He asked water, [and] she gave him milk; she brought him butter in a lordly dish. ²⁶ She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head, yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. ²⁷ At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. ²⁸ Through the window she looked forth, and cried, the mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? ²⁹ Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, ³⁰ Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? a damsel, two damsels to every man; to Sisera a spoil of divers colours, a spoil of divers colours of embroidery, of divers colours of embroidery on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? ³¹ So let all thine enemies perish, [O LORD]: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. ⁶ ¹ And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ² And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strong holds. ³ And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; ⁴ and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. ⁵ For they came up with their cattle and their tents, they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. ⁷ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of Midian, ⁸ that the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;