Judges 4
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13
14 15
16 17
18 19
20 21
1 And the children of Israel
again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of
Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was
Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried unto
the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily
oppressed the children of Israel.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess,
the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of
Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel
came up to her for judgment.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of
Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of
Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with
thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of
Zebulun?
7 And I will draw unto thee to the river
Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his
multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 And 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.
9 And she said, I will surely go with
thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine
honour; 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 at his feet: and
Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was
of the children 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.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the
son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And 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.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for
this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:
is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and
ten thousand men after him.
15 And the LORD discomfited 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.
16 But 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.
17 Howbeit 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 And 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.
19 And 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 drink, and covered him.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the
door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee,
and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of
the tent, and took an 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.
22 And, 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.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the
king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 And 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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