Judges 4
1 And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH when Ehud is dead,
After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
2 and YHWH sells them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who has reigned in Hazor, and Sisera [is] the head of his host, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the nations;
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 cry to YHWH, for he has nine hundred chariots of iron, and he has oppressed the sons of Israel mightily [for] 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 Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging 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 is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go 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 sends and calls for Barak son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and says to him, “Has YHWH, God of Israel, not commanded? Go, and you have drawn toward Mount Tabor, and have taken with you ten thousand men, out of the sons of Naphtali, and out 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 have drawn to you, to the Brook of Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into your 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 says to her, “If you go with me, then I have gone; and if you do not go with me, I do 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 says, “I certainly go with you; only, surely your glory is not on the way which you are going, for YHWH sells Sisera into the hand of a woman”; and Deborah rises and goes 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 calls Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he goes up—ten thousand men [are] at his feet—and Deborah goes 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 Heber the Kenite has been separated from the Kenite, from the sons of Hobab father-in-law of Moses, and he stretches out his tent to the oak in Zaanaim, 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 declare to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam has gone up to Mount Tabor,
Sisera heard that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone to Mount Tabor,
13 and Sisera calls all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who [are] with him, from Harosheth of the nations, to the Brook of 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 says to Barak, “Rise, for this [is] the day in which YHWH has given Sisera into your hand; has YHWH not gone out before you?” And Barak goes 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 YHWH destroys Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the camp, by the mouth of the sword, before Barak, and Sisera comes down from off the chariot, and flees 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 Barak has pursued after the chariots and after the camp, to Harosheth of the nations, and all the camp of Sisera falls by the mouth of the sword—there has not been left even one.
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 Sisera has fled on his feet to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for [there is] peace between Jabin 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 goes out to meet Sisera and says to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, do not fear”; and he turns aside to her, into the tent, and she covers 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 he says to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty”; and she opens the bottle of milk, and gives him to drink, and covers 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 says to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and it has been, if any comes in, and has asked you and said, Is there a man here? That you have said, 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 wife of Heber takes the pin of the tent, and takes the hammer in her hand, and goes to him gently, and strikes the pin into his temples, and it fastens in the earth—and he has been fast asleep, and is weary—and he dies.
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, Barak is pursuing Sisera, and Jael comes out to meet him, and says to him, “Come, and I show you the man whom you are seeking”; and he comes to her, and behold, Sisera is fallen—dead, and the pin [is] 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 And God humbles Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel on that day,
That day God defeated Jabin, king of Canaan, in the presence of the Israelites.
24 and the hand of the sons of Israel goes, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, until they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan.
From then on Israel grew ever more powerful until the destroyed Jabin, king of Hazor.
