Judges 4
1 But after the death of Ehud, the sons of Israel resumed doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord when Ehud was dead.
2 And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned at Hazor. And he had a commander of his army named Sisera, but this man lived at Harosheth of the Gentiles.
And the Lord gave them up into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who was ruling in Hazor; the captain of his army was Sisera, who was living in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. For he had nine hundred chariots with scythes, and he vehemently oppressed them for twenty years.
Then the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron war-carriages, and for twenty years he was very cruel to the children of Israel.
4 Now there was a prophetess, Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, who judged the people in that time.
Now Deborah, a woman prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time.
5 And she was sitting under a palm tree, which was called by her name, between Ramah and Bethel, on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel went up to her for every judgment.
(And she had her seat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her to be judged.)
6 And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of Naphtali. And she said to him: “The Lord, the God of Israel, instructs you: ‘Go and lead an army to Mount Tabor, and you shall take with you ten thousand fighting men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.
And she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, given orders saying, Go and get your force into line in Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
7 Then I will lead to you, at the place of the torrent Kishon, Sisera, the leader of the army of Jabin, with his chariots and the entire multitude. And I will deliver them into your hand.’”
And I will make Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his war-carriages and his forces, come against you at the river Kishon, where I will give him into your hands.
8 And Barak said to her: “If you will come with me, I will go. If you are not willing to come with me, I will not go.”
And 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 to him: “Indeed, I will go with you. But due to this change, the victory shall not be reputed to you. And so Sisera will be delivered into the hand of a woman.” Therefore, Deborah rose up, and she traveled with Barak to Kedesh.
And she said, I will certainly go with you: though you will get no honour in your undertaking, for the Lord will give Sisera into the hands of a woman. So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And he, summoning Zebulun and Naphtali, ascended with ten thousand fighting men, having Deborah in his company.
Then Barak sent for Zebulun and Naphtali to come to Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up after him, and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber, the Kenite, had previously withdrawn from the rest of the Kenites, his brothers, the sons of Hobab, the relative of Moses. And he had pitched his tents as far as the valley that is called Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
Now Heber the Kenite, separating himself from the rest of the Kenites, from the children of Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, had put up his tent as far away as the oak-tree in Zaanannim, by Kedesh.
12 And it was reported to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had ascended to Mount Tabor.
And word was given to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor.
13 And he gathered together the nine hundred chariots with scythes, and the entire army, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the torrent Kishon.
So Sisera got together all his war-carriages, nine hundred war-carriages of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles as far as the river Kishon.
14 And Deborah said to Barak: “Rise up. For this is the day on which the Lord delivers Sisera into your hands. For he is your commander.” And so, Barak descended from Mount Tabor, and the ten thousand fighting men with him.
Then Deborah said to Barak, Up! for today the Lord has given Sisera into your hands: has not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the Lord struck Sisera with great fear, and all his chariots and all his multitude with the edge of the sword, in the sight of Barak, so much so that Sisera, leaping from his chariot, fled on foot.
And the Lord sent fear on Sisera and all his war-carriages and all his army before Barak; and Sisera got down from his war-carriage and went in flight on foot.
16 And Barak pursued the fleeing chariots, and the army, as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the entire multitude of the enemy was cut down, unto utter annihilation.
But Barak went after the war-carriages and the army as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all Sisera's army was put to the sword; not a man got away.
17 But Sisera, while fleeing, arrived at 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.
But Sisera went in flight on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 Therefore, Jael went out to meet Sisera, and she said to him: “Enter to me, my lord. Enter, you should not be afraid.” And he entered her tent, and having been covered by her with a cloak,
And Jael went out to Sisera, and said to him, Come in, my lord, come in to me without fear. So he went into her tent, and she put a cover over him.
19 he said to her: “Give me, I beg you, a little water. For I am very thirsty.” And she opened a bottle of milk, and she gave him to drink. And she covered him.
Then he said to her, Give me now a little water, for I have need of a drink. And opening a skin of milk, she gave him drink, and put the cover over him again.
20 And Sisera said to her: “Stand before the door of the tent. And if anyone arrives, questioning you and saying, ‘Could there be any man here?’ you shall respond, ‘There is no one.’”
And he said to her, Take your place at the door of the tent, and if anyone comes and says to you, Is there any man here, say, No.
21 And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a spike from the tent, and also took a mallet. And entering unseen and with silence, she placed the spike over the temple of his head. And striking it with the mallet, she drove it through his brain, as far as the ground. And so, joining deep sleep to death, he fell unconscious and died.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent-pin and a hammer and went up to him quietly, driving the pin into his head, and it went through his head into the earth, for he was in a deep sleep from weariness; and so he came to his end.
22 And behold, Barak arrived, in pursuit of Sisera. And Jael, going out to meet him, said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And when he had entered her tent, he saw Sisera lying dead, with the spike fixed in his temples.
Then Jael went out, and meeting Barak going after Sisera, said to him, Come, and I will let you see the man you are searching for. So he came into her tent and saw, and there was Sisera stretched out dead with the tent-pin in his head.
23 Thus did God humble Jabin, the king of Canaan, on that day, before the sons of Israel.
So that day God overcame Jabin, king of Canaan, before the children of Israel.
24 And they increased every day. And with a strong hand they overpowered Jabin, the king of Canaan, until they wiped him out.
And the power of the children of Israel went on increasing against Jabin, king of Canaan, till he was cut off.
