1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of
the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
2 And
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.
3 And
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.
4 And
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And
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.
6 And
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?
7 And
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.
8 And
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.
9 And
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.
10 And
Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand
men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now
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.
12 And
they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And
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.
14 And
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.
15 And
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.
16 But
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.
17 Howbeit
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.
18 And
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.
19 And
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.
20 Again
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.
21 Then
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.
22 And,
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.
23 So
God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 And
the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the
king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
