Judges 4
4
Deborah, the Woman Judge
1After Ehud died, the Israelites again did what the Lord said was wrong. 2So he let Jabin, a king of Canaan who ruled in the city of Hazor, defeat Israel. Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, was the commander of Jabin’s army. 3Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and was very cruel to the people of Israel for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
4A prophetess named Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was judge of Israel at that time. 5Deborah would sit under the Palm Tree of Deborah, which was between the cities of Ramah and Bethel, in the mountains of Ephraim. And the people of Israel would come to her to settle their arguments.
6Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go and gather ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor. 7I will make Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, and his chariots, and his army meet you at the Kishon River. I will hand Sisera over to you.’ ”
8Then Barak said to Deborah, “I will go if you will go with me, but if you won’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9“Of course I will go with you,” Deborah answered, “but you will not get credit for the victory. The Lord will let a woman defeat Sisera.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10At Kedesh, Barak called the people of Zebulun and Naphtali together. From them, he gathered ten thousand men to follow him, and Deborah went with him also.
11Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law. Heber had put up his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim, near Kedesh.
12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone to Mount Tabor, 13Sisera gathered his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.
14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! Today is the day the Lord will hand over Sisera. The Lord has already cleared the way for you.” So Barak led ten thousand men down Mount Tabor. 15As Barak approached, the Lord confused Sisera and his army and chariots. The Lord defeated them with the sword, but Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot. 16Barak and his men chased Sisera’s chariots and army to Harosheth Haggoyim. With their swords they killed all of Sisera’s men; not one of them was left alive.
17But Sisera himself ran away to the tent where Jael lived. She was the wife of Heber, one of the Kenite family groups. Heber’s family was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor. 18Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come into my tent, master! Come in. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera went into Jael’s tent, and she covered him with a rug.
19Sisera said to Jael, “I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.” So she opened a leather bag of milk and gave him a drink. Then she covered him up.
20He said to her, “Go stand at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’ ”
21But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and a hammer and quietly went to Sisera. Since he was very tired, he was in a deep sleep. She hammered the tent peg through the side of Sisera’s head and into the ground. And so Sisera died.
22At that very moment Barak came by Jael’s tent, chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, “Come. I will show you the man you are looking for.” So Barak entered her tent, and there Sisera lay dead, with the tent peg in his head.
23On that day God defeated Jabin king of Canaan in the sight of Israel.
24Israel became stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until finally they destroyed him.
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Judges 4: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Judges 4
4
Judges 4
1¶ But the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead.
2And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, and he dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3And the sons of Israel cried unto the Lord, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had mightily oppressed the sons of Israel for twenty years.
4¶ And a woman judged Israel at that time, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth.
5This Deborah dwelt under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh of Naphtali and said unto him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded thee, saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor and take with thee ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun?
7And I will draw Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, unto thee to the river Kishon, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thy hands.
8And Barak said unto her, If 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, but thy honour shall not be in the way that thou goest; 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 to Kedesh, and he went up with ten thousand men on foot, and Deborah went up with him.
11Now Heber, the Kenite, of the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12And the news came unto Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, was gone up to Mount Tabor.
13And 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 of Kishon.
14Then Deborah said unto Barak, Rise up, for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into thy hands. Is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him.
15And the Lord broke 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 foot.
16But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Harosheth of the Gentiles, and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword, and there was not a man left.
17¶ And Sisera fled on foot 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 thick coverlet.
19And 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 to drink and covered him again.
20Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and if anyone should come and enquire of thee and say, Is there anyone here? Thou shalt say, No.
21Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took the tent stake, and putting a hammer in her hand, went softly unto him and smote the stake into his temples and fastened it into the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22And as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he entered into where she was, behold, Sisera lay dead with the stake through his temples.
23So God subjected on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel.
24And the hand of the sons of Israel began to prosper and to prevail against Jabin, the king of Canaan until they had destroyed him.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International