Judges
4
NIV
Translation
1
After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the
LORD.
2
So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned
in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth
Haggoyim.
3
Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the
Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.
4
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that
time.
5
She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in
the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their
disputes decided.
6
She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him,
"The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand
men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.
7
I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and
his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' "
8
Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with
me, I won't go."
9
"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way
you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will
hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh,
10
where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him,
and Deborah also went with him.
11
Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab,
Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim
near Kedesh.
12
When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
13
Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men
with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.
14
Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera
into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down
Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men.
15
At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army
by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
16
But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All
the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.
17
Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the
Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor
and the clan of Heber the Kenite.
18
Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord , come right
in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over
him.
19
"I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin
of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20
"Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and
asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' "
21
But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went
quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through
his temple into the ground, and he died.
22
Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come,"
she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with
her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead.
23
On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites.
24
And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin,
the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him. |
Judges
4
The
New American Standard
1
Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after
Ehud died.
2
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned
in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
3
The sons of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred iron chariots,
and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
4
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at
that time.
5
She used to sit 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.
6
Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali,
and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go
and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons
of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.
7
'I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his
chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into
your hand.'"
8
Then 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, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not
be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell
Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak
to Kedesh.
10
Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and ten thousand
men went up with him; Deborah also went up with him.
11
Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons
of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away
as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12
Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount
Tabor.
13
Sisera called together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and
all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.
14
Deborah said to Barak, "Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has
given Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD has gone out before you."
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
15
The LORD routed 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 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 even one
was left.
17
Now Sisera fled away on foot 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.
18
Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my master,
turn aside to me! Do not be afraid." And he turned aside to her into the
tent, and she covered him with a rug.
19
He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty."
So she opened a [b]bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered
him.
20
He said to her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone
comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there anyone here?' that you shall
say, 'No.'"
21
But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand,
and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went
through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.
22
And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said
to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." And he
entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in
his temple.
23
So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of
Israel.
24
The hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the
king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan. |
