Deborah
1 When Ehud was dead,the children of Israel again didevil in the sight of theLord.
2 So theLordsold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned inHazor. The commander of his armywasSisera, who dwelt inHarosheth Hagoyim.
3 And the children of Israel cried out to theLord; for Jabin had nine hundredchariots of iron, and for twenty yearshe had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5 And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 Then she sent and called forBarak the son of Abinoam fromKedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not theLordGod of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploytroopsat MountTabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun;
7 and against youI will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at theRiver Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?”
8 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 So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for theLordwillsell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak calledZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand menunder his command, and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heberthe Kenite, of the children ofHobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim,whichisbeside Kedesh.
12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.
13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people whowerewith him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For thisisthe day in which theLordhas delivered Sisera into your hand.Has not theLordgone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
15 And theLordrouted Sisera and allhischariots and allhisarmy with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted fromhischariot and fled away on foot.
16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man wasleft.
17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent ofJael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; fortherewaspeace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket.
19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she openeda jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.
20 And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”
21 Then Jael, Heber’s wife,took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into hertent,there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.
23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.