Judges 4
1And
the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
2And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of
whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty
years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4And
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children
of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6And
she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded,
saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children
of Zebulun?
7And I will draw unto thee to
the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine
hand.
8And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt
go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be
for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to
Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of
Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13And Sisera gathered together all his chariots,
even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of
Kishon.
14And Deborah said unto Barak, Up;
for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak
went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15And
the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera
lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16But
Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon
the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17Howbeit
Sisera fled away on his feet 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.
18And
Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto
her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
19And
he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave
him drink, and covered him.
20Again he said
unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any
man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21Then
Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into
his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto
him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the
nail was in his temples.
23So God subdued
on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan,
until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
