Judges 4
1 And the sons of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, when Ehud was dead.
After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
2 And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose army was Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
So the Lord sold them to Jabin, king of Canaan, who ruled from Hazor. His army commander was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
3 And the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he mightily oppressed the sons of Israel twenty years.
The Israelites cried out to the Lord to help them, for Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots and he cruelly mistreated them for twenty years.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet, and she was leading Israel as a judge at that time.
5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
She would sit under Deborah's Palm between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for her decisions.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Has not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded, saying, Go and approach to mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun?
She sent for Barak, son of Abinoam, from the town of Kedesh in Naphtali and told him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, orders you: ‘Go to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun, and lead them there.
7 And I will draw Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, to thee, to the river Kishon, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thy hand.
I will bring Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River, and hand him over to you.”
8 And Barak said to her, If thou will go with me, then I will go, but if thou will not go with me, I will not go.
Barak replied, “If you come with me, I'll go; but if you don't come with me, I won't go.”
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee. Notwithstanding, the journey that thou take shall not be for thine honor, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
“I'll definitely go with you,” Deborah answered, “but if you're going to take that route then you won't receive any respect, because the Lord will give Sisera into the hands of a woman.” Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh. And there went up ten thousand men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him.
Barak called up the armies of Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men assembled under his command. Deborah was also there with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the sons of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.
(Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, and had set up his tent at the large tree in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.)
12 And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
Sisera heard that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone 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, to the river Kishon.
so he summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all his men to come from Harosheth-hagoyim to the Kishon River.
14 And Deborah said to Barak, Up, for this is the day in which Jehovah has delivered Sisera into thy hand. Has not Jehovah gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
Then Deborah told Barak, “Get going! Today the Lord has handed Sisera to you. Didn't the Lord march out ahead of you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, accompanied by ten thousand men.
15 And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak. And Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a confused panic. Sisera jumped down from his chariot and ran away.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after 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.
Barak chased after the chariots and troops all the way to Harosheth-hagoyim. The whole of Sisera's army was killed—not a single man survived.
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.
In the meantime Sisera had run away to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was a peace treaty between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he turned in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
Jael went to meet Sisera and told him, “Come on in, my lord, come in with me. Don't be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a thick blanket.
19 And he said to 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.
“Please give me a bit of water to drink, because I'm thirsty,” Sisera asked her. So she opened a skin of milk, let him have a drink, and then covered him up again.
20 And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of thee, and says, Is there any man here? that thou shall say, No.
“Stand guard at the tent door,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is there is anyone here?’ just say no.”
21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, 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.
But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and crept quietly over to him where he lay fast sleep and exhausted. She drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seek. And he came to her, and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.
So when Barak came past, hunting for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said, “Come here, and I'll show you the man you're looking for.” He went in with her, and there lay Sisera, dead, with the tent peg through his temple.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel.
That day God defeated Jabin, king of Canaan, in the presence of the Israelites.
24 And the hand of the sons of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
From then on Israel grew ever more powerful until the destroyed Jabin, king of Hazor.
