Judges 4

And ^athe children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead. ²And the Lord ^bsold them into the hand of ^cJabin king of Canaan, that reigned in ^cHazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in ^dHarosheth of the Gentiles. ³And the children of Israel ^ecried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred ^fchariots of iron; and twenty years ^ghe mightily oppressed the children of Israel. ⁴And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. ⁵And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between ^hRamah and Beth-el in ⁱmount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of ^kKedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount ^lTabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? ⁷And I will draw unto thee to the ^mriver Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and ⁿI will deliver him into thine hand. ⁸And Barak said unto her, ^oIf thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. ⁹And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall ^psell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰And Barak called ^qZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men ^rat his feet: and Deborah went up with him. ¹¹Now Heber ^sthe Kenite, which was of the children of ^tHobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto ^uthe plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. ¹²And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount ^lTabor. ¹³And Sisera gathered together all his ^fchariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon. ¹⁴And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which ⁿthe Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: ^wis not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount ^lTabor, and ten thousand men after him. ¹⁵And the Lord ^xdiscomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. ¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. ¹⁷Howbeit 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. ¹⁸And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. ¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle ^yof milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. ²⁰Again 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. ²¹Then Jael Heber’s wife took ^za nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. ²²And 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 when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. ²³So ^aGod subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. ²⁴And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

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