Judges 4

Deborah and Barak

1The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud had died. 2So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin # Jos 11:1; Ps 83:9 king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. # 1Sm 12:9 The commander of his forces was Sisera # Jdg 5:20-30; 1Sm 12:9; Ps 83:9 who lived in Harosheth of the Nations. # Or Harosheth-ha-goiim 3Then the Israelites cried out # Ex 14:10; Nm 12:13; Dt 26:7; Ps 34:17 to the Lord, because Jabin had 900 iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them 20 years.

4Deborah, a woman who was a prophetess # Ex 15:20; 2Kg 22:14; Neh 6:14; Is 8:3 and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5It was her custom to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her for judgment. # Nm 35:12; 2Ch 19:8; Ps 9:4; 76:8-9; Is 3:13-14; Ezk 44:24

6She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel, # Ex 5:1; Dt 6:4; Ps 41:13 commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor, # Jos 19:12,22,34; Ps 89:12 and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites # Gn 30:8; 49:21 and Zebulunites? # Gn 30:20; 49:13 7Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s forces, his chariots, and his army at the Wadi Kishon # Jdg 5:21; 1Kg 18:40; Ps 83:9 to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’ ” # Dt 2:30; Jdg 7:9; 2Sm 5:19; 1Ch 14:10; Is 47:6

8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

9“I will go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; 10,000 men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

11Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, # Nm 10:29 Moses’ father-in-law, # Ex 3:1; 4:18; 18:1-27 and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim, # Jos 19:33 which was near Kedesh.

12It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. 13Sisera summoned all his 900 iron chariots and all the people who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations # Or Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Move on, for this is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you? ” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

15The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into confusion # Ex 14:24; 23:27; Jos 10:10; Ps 18:14; 144:6 with the sword before Barak. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. 16Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, # Or Harosheth-ha-goiim and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

17Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 20Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here? ’ say, ‘No.’ ” 21While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.

22When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!

23That day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24The power of the Israelites continued to increase against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

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Judges 4: HCSB

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