4
1 The
children of Israel
again did that
which was evil
in the LORD’s
sight, when Ehud
was dead.
2 The
LORD sold them
into the hand
of Jabin king
of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor;
the captain of
whose army was
Sisera, who lived
in Harosheth of
the Gentiles.
3 The
children of Israel
cried to the
LORD, for he
had nine hundred
chariots of iron;
and he mightily
oppressed the
children of Israel
for twenty years.
4 Now
Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife
of Lappidoth,
judged Israel at
that time.
5 She
lived under
Deborah’s palm
tree between Ramah
and Bethel in
the hill country
of Ephraim; and
the children of
Israel came up
to her for
judgment.
6 She
sent and called
Barak the son
of Abinoam out of
Kedesh Naphtali,
and said to
him, “Hasn’t the
LORD, the God
of Israel,
commanded, ‘Go and
lead the way
to Mount Tabor,
and take with
you ten thousand
men of the
children of
Naphtali and of
the children of
Zebulun?
7 I
will draw to
you, to the
river Kishon,
Sisera, the
captain of Jabin’s
army, with his
chariots and his
multitude; and I
will deliver him
into your hand.’ ”
8 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 She said, “I
will surely go
with you.
Nevertheless, the
journey that you
take won’t be for
your honor; for
the LORD will
sell Sisera into
a woman’s hand.”
Deborah arose, and
went with Barak
to Kedesh.
10 Barak
called Zebulun and
Naphtali together
to Kedesh.
Ten thousand men followed
him; and Deborah
went up with
him.
11 Now Heber
the Kenite had
separated himself
from the Kenites,
even from the
children of Hobab,
Moses’ brother-in-law, and
had pitched
his tent as far
as the oak in
Zaanannim, which is
by Kedesh.
12 They
told Sisera that
Barak the son
of Abinoam had
gone up to
Mount Tabor.
13 Sisera
gathered together
all his chariots,
even nine hundred
chariots of iron,
and all the
people who were
with him, from
Harosheth of the
Gentiles, to the
river Kishon.
14 Deborah
said to Barak, “Go; for this is
the day in
which the LORD
has delivered
Sisera into your
hand. Hasn’t the
LORD gone out
before you?” So
Barak went down
from Mount Tabor,
and ten thousand men
after him.
15 The
LORD confused
Sisera, all his
chariots, and all
his army, with
the edge of
the sword before
Barak. Sisera abandoned
his chariot and
fled away on
his feet.
16 But
Barak pursued the
chariots and the
army to Harosheth
of the Gentiles;
and all the
army of Sisera
fell by the
edge of the
sword. There was
not a man
left.
17 However
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.
18 Jael
went out to
meet Sisera, and
said to him, “Turn
in, my lord, turn
in to me; don’t
be afraid.” He
came in to
her into the tent,
and she covered
him with a
rug.
19 He said
to her, “Please
give me a
little water to
drink; for I am
thirsty.”
She opened
a container of
milk, and gave
him a drink,
and covered him.
20 He said
to her, “Stand
in 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,
took a tent
peg, and took
a hammer in
her hand, and
went softly to
him, and struck
the pin into
his temples, and
it pierced through
into the ground,
for he was
in a deep
sleep; so
he fainted and
died.
22 Behold,
as Barak pursued
Sisera, Jael came
out to meet
him, and said
to him, “Come,
and I will
show you the
man whom you seek.”
He came to
her; and behold,
Sisera lay dead,
and the tent
peg was in
his temples.
23 So God
subdued Jabin the
king of Canaan
before the
children of Israel
on that day.
24 The
hand of the
children of Israel
prevailed more and
more against Jabin
the king of
Canaan, until they
had destroyed
Jabin king of
Canaan.