Judges 4:1–24
4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud had died. 2 So the Lord sold them to King Jabinb of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.c The commander of his army was Siserad who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.* 3 Then the Israelites cried oute to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them twenty years.
4 Deborah, a prophetessf and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.g
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel,h commanded you, ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor,i and take with you ten thousand men from the Naphtalitesj and Zebulunites?k 7 Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishonl to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’ ”m
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 “I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab,n Moses’s father-in-law,o and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim,p which was near Kedesh.
12 It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
15 The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into a panicq before Barak’s assault. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
17 Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 20 Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’ ” 21 While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife, Jael, took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.
22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So
Judges 21:1–25
21 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”e 2 So the people went to Bethel and sat there before Godf until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, 3 and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurredC that one tribe is missing in Israel today?” 4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there,g and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.
6 But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.” 8 They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. 9 For when the roll was called, no men were there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
10 The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword,h including women and dependents. 11 This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man.” 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not been intimate with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 The whole congregation sent a message of peacei to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock. 14 Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.
15 The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.” 19 They also said, “Look, there’s an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh,j which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 Then they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances,a each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, soA you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’ ”
23 The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities,b and lived in them. 24 At that time, …
Judges 21:1–25
21 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”e 2 So the people went to Bethel and sat there before Godf until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, 3 and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurredC that one tribe is missing in Israel today?” 4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there,g and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.
6 But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.” 8 They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. 9 For when the roll was called, no men were there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
10 The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword,h including women and dependents. 11 This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man.” 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not been intimate with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 The whole congregation sent a message of peacei to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock. 14 Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.
15 The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.” 19 They also said, “Look, there’s an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh,j which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 Then they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances,a each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, soA you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’ ”
23 The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities,b and lived in them. 24 At that time, …