Judges 3:1–5:31
The Nations Remaining in the Land
3 Now these are athe nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not 1known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), 3 namely, bfive lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4 And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to 2know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5 cThus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And dthey took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.
7 So the children of Israel did eevil in the sight of the Lord. They fforgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and 3Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He gsold them into the hand of hCushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. 9 When the children of Israel icried out to the Lord, the Lord jraised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: kOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 lThe Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
12 mAnd the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened nEglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and oAmalek, went and 4defeated Israel, and took possession of pthe City of Palms. 14 So the children of Israel qserved Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 But when the children of Israel rcried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a sleft-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back tfrom the 5stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”
He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.
20 So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 Even the 6hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. 23 Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 When he had gone out, 7Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably uattending 8to his needs in the cool chamber.” 25 So they waited till they were vembarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.
26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the 9stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it happened, when he arrived, that whe blew the trumpet in the xmountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and 1he led them. 28 Then he said to them, “Follow me, for ythe Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the zfords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And athe land had rest for eighty years.
31 After him was bShamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines cwith an ox goad; dand he also delivered eIsrael.
4 When Ehud was dead, athe children of Israel again did bevil in the sight of the Lord. 2 So the Lord csold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in dHazor. The commander of his army was eSisera, who dwelt in fHarosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred gchariots of iron, and for twenty years hhe had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 iAnd she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Then she sent and called for jBarak the son of Abinoam from kKedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and 1deploy troops at Mount lTabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and against you mI will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the nRiver Kishon; and I will 2deliver him into your hand’?”
8 And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”
9 So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will osell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called pZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men qunder 3his command, and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber rthe Kenite, of the children of sHobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, twhich is beside Kedesh.
12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, 4“Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. uHas not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was vleft.
17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of wJael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a 5blanket.
19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened xa jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”
21 Then Jael, Heber’s wife, ytook a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.
23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
5 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam asang on that day, saying:
2 “When 1leaders blead in Israel,
cWhen the people 2willingly offer themselves,
Bless the Lord!
3 “Hear, dO kings! Give ear, O princes!
I, even eI, will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 “Lord, fwhen You went out from Seir,
When You marched from gthe field of Edom,
The earth trembled and the heavens poured,
The clouds also poured water;
5 hThe mountains 3gushed before the Lord,
iThis Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel.
6 “In the days of jShamgar, son of Anath,
In the days of kJael,
lThe highways were deserted,
And the travelers walked along the byways.
7 Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose mnew gods;
Then there was war in the gates;
Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with the rulers of Israel
Who offered themselves willingly with the people.
Bless the Lord!
10 “Speak, you who ride on white ndonkeys,
Who sit in judges’ attire,
And who walk along the road.
11 Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts for His villagers in Israel;
Then the people of the Lord shall go down to the gates.
12 “Awake, oawake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away,
O son of Abinoam!