Judges 4
1 And the children of Israel continued to do evil against the Lord; and Aod was dead.
After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
2 And the Lord sold the children of Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Chanaan, who ruled in Asor; and the chief of his host was Sisara, and he dwelt in Arisoth 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 children of Israel cried to the Lord, because he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed 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 And Debbora, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, —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 sat under the palm-tree of Debbora between Rama and Baethel in mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel went 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 Debbora sent and called Barac the son of Abineem out of Cades Nephthali, and she said to him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded thee? and thou shalt depart to mount Thabor, and shalt take with thyself ten thousand men of the sons of Nephthali and of the sons of Zabulon.
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 bring to thee to the torrent of Kison Sisara the captain of the host of Jabin, and his chariots, and his multitude, and I will deliver them into thine hands.
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 Barac said to her, If thou wilt go with me, I will go; and if thou wilt not go, I will not go; for I know not the day on which the Lord prospers his messenger with me.
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; but know that thy honour shall not attend on the expedition on which thou goest, for the Lord shall sell Sisara into the hands of a women: and Debbora arose, and went with Barac out of Cades.
“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 Barac called Zabulon and Nephthali out of Cades, and there went up at his feet ten thousand men, and Debbora 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 And Chaber the Kenite had removed from Caina, from the sons of Jobab the father-in-law of Moses, and pitched his tent by the oak of the covetous ones, which is near Kedes.
(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 it was told Sisara that Barac the son of Abineem was gone up to mount Thabor.
Sisera heard that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone to Mount Tabor,
13 And Sisara summoned all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron and all the people with him, from Arisoth of the Gentiles to the brook of Kison.
so he summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all his men to come from Harosheth-hagoyim to the Kishon River.
14 And Debbora said to Barac, Rise up, for this [is] the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisara into thy hand, for the Lord shall go forth before thee: and Barac went down from mount Thabor, 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 the Lord discomfited Sisara, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barac: and Sisara descended from off his chariot, and fled 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 And Barac pursued after the chariots and after the army, into Arisoth of the Gentiles; and the whole army of Sisara fell by the edge of the sword, there was not one 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 And Sisara fled on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Chaber the Kenite his friend: for there was peace between Jabin king of Asor and the house of Chaber 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 Sisara, and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, fear not: and he turned aside to her into the tent; and she covered him with a mantle.
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 Sisara 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 to 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 Sisara said to her, Stand now by the door of the tent, and it shall come to pass if any man come to thee, and ask of thee, and say, Is there [any] man here? then thou shalt say, There is not.
“Stand guard at the tent door,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is there is anyone here?’ just say no.”
21 And Jael the wife of Chaber took a pin of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him, and fastened the pin in his temple, and it went through to the earth, and he fainted away, and darkness fell upon him and he 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, Barac [was] pursuing Sisara: and Jael went out to meet him, and he said to him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest: and he went in to her; and, behold, Sisara was fallen dead, and the pin [was] in his temple.
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 routed Jabin king of Chanaan in that day before the children of Israel.
That day God defeated Jabin, king of Canaan, in the presence of the Israelites.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin king of Chanaan, until they utterly destroyed Jabin king of Chanaan.
From then on Israel grew ever more powerful until the destroyed Jabin, king of Hazor.
