Judges 4:1–6:40
4 Again the Israelites did evilr in the eyes of the Lord,s now that Ehudt was dead. 2 So the Lord sold themu into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.v Sisera,w the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with ironx and had cruelly oppressedy the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
4 Now Deborah,z a prophet,a the wife of Lappidoth, was leadinga Israel at that time. 5 She held courtb under the Palm of Deborah between Ramahc and Betheld in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoame from Kedeshf in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtalig and Zebulunh and lead them up to Mount Tabor.i 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’sj army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon Riverk and give him into your hands.l’ ”
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.m 10 There Barak summonedn Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites,o the descendants of Hobab,p Moses’ brother-in-law,b and pitched his tent by the great treeq in Zaanannimr near Kedesh.
12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,s 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon Rivert all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.u
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.v Has not the Lord gone aheadw of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routedx Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.y 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,z the wife of Heber the Kenite,a because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazorb and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jaelc went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,d gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’ ”
21 But Jael,e Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,f exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.g
22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jaelh went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.i
23 On that day God subduedj Jabink king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.l
5 On that day Deborahm and Barak son of Abinoamn sang this song:o
2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offerp themselves—
praise the Lord!q
3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing toa the Lord;r
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.s
4 “When you, Lord, went outt from Seir,u
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,v the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.w
5 The mountains quakedx before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,y
in the days of Jael,z the highwaysa were abandoned;
travelers took to winding paths.b
7 Villagers in Israel would not fight;
they held back until I, Deborah,c arose,
until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 God chose new leadersd
when war came to the city gates,e
but not a shield or spearf was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the willing volunteersg among the people.
Praise the Lord!
10 “You who ride on white donkeys,h
sitting on your saddle blankets,
and you who walk along the road,
consider 11 the voice of the singersb at the watering places.
They recite the victoriesi of the Lord,
the victories of his villagers in Israel.
“Then the people of the Lord
went down to the city gates.j
12 ‘Wake up,k wake up, Deborah!l
Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!m
Take captive your captives,n son of Abinoam.’
13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;
the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14 Some came from Ephraim,o whose roots were in Amalek;p
Benjaminq was with the people who followed you.
From Makirr captains came down,
from Zebulun those who bear a commander’sc staff.
15 The princes of Issachars were with Deborah;t
yes, Issachar was with Barak,u
sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
16 Why did you stay among the sheep pensd v
to hear the whistling for the flocks?w
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
17 Gileadx stayed beyond the Jordan.
And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
and stayed in his coves.
18 The people of Zebuluna risked their very lives;
so did Naphtalib on the terraced fields.c
19 “Kings camed, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,e
they took no plunder of silver.f
20 From the heavensg the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishonh swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!i
22 Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.j
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.
‘Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty.’
24 “Most blessed of womenk be Jael,l
the wife of Heber the Kenite,m
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;n
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.o
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell—deadp.
28 “Through the windowq peered Sisera’s mother;
behind the lattice she cried out,r
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her;
indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:s
a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
colorful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garmentst for my neck—
all this as plunder?u’
31 “So may all your enemies perish,v Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sunw
when it rises in its strength.”x
Then the land had peacey forty years.
6 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,z and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.a 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive,b the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, cavesc and strongholds.d 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekitese and other eastern peoplesf invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the cropsg all the way to Gazah and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.i It was impossible to count them or their camels;j they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried outk to the Lord for help.
7 When the Israelites cried outl to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet,m who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt,n out of the land of slavery.o 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors;p I drove them out before you and gave you their land.q 10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worshipr the gods of the Amorites,s in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 The angel of the Lordt came and sat down under the oak in Ophrahu that belonged to Joashv the Abiezrite,w where his son Gideonx was threshingy wheat in a winepressz to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,a mighty warrior.b”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondersc that our ancestors toldd us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandonede us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you havef and saveg Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clanh is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.i”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with youj, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a signk that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the Lord said, “I will …