Judges 4-5
International Children’s Bible
Deborah, the Woman Judge
4 After Ehud died, the people of Israel again did what the Lord said was wrong. 2 So he let Jabin, a king of Canaan, defeat Israel. Jabin ruled in the city of Hazor. Sisera was the commander of Jabin’s army. Sisera lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 He had 900 iron chariots and was very cruel to the people of Israel for 20 years. So they cried to the Lord for help.
4 There was a prophetess named Deborah. She was the wife of Lappidoth. She was judge of Israel at that time. 5 Deborah would sit under the Palm Tree of Deborah. This was between the cities of Ramah and Bethel, in the mountains of Ephraim. And the people of Israel would come to her to settle their arguments.
6 Deborah sent a message to a man named Barak. He was the son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go and gather 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun. Lead them to Mount Tabor. 7 I will make Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, come to you. Sisera, his chariots and his army will meet you at the Kishon River. I will help you to defeat Sisera there.’”
8 Then Barak said to Deborah, “I will go if you will go with me. But if you will not go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Of course I will go with you,” Deborah answered. “But you will not get credit for the victory. The Lord will let a woman defeat Sisera.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 At Kedesh, Barak called the people of Zebulun and Naphtali together. From them, he gathered 10,000 men to follow him. Deborah went with Barak also.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenite people. (The Kenites were descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law.) Heber had put up his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim. This is near Kedesh.
12 Then Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered his 900 iron chariots and all the men with him. They went from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! Today is the day the Lord will help you defeat Sisera. You know the Lord has already cleared the way for you.” So Barak led 10,000 men down from Mount Tabor. 15 He and his men attacked Sisera and his men. During the battle the Lord confused Sisera and his army and chariots. So Barak and his men used their swords to defeat Sisera’s army. But Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot. 16 Barak and his men chased Sisera’s chariots and army to Harosheth Haggoyim. They used their swords to kill all of Sisera’s men. Not one of them was left alive.
17 But Sisera himself ran away. He came to the tent where Jael lived. She was the wife of Heber, one of the Kenite family groups. Heber’s family was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera. She said to him, “Come into my tent, master! Come in. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera went into Jael’s tent, and she covered him with a rug.
19 Sisera said to Jael, “I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.” So she opened a leather bag in which she kept milk and gave him a drink. Then she covered him up.
20 Then Sisera said to Jael, “Go stand at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21 But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and a hammer. She quietly went to Sisera. Since he was very tired, he was sleeping. She hammered the tent peg through the side of Sisera’s head and into the ground! And so Sisera died.
22 Then Barak came by Jael’s tent, chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, “Come. I will show you the man you are looking for.” So Barak entered her tent. There Sisera lay dead, with the tent peg in his head.
23 On that day God defeated Jabin king of Canaan in the sight of Israel.
24 Israel became stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan. Finally, they destroyed him.
The Song of Deborah
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
2 “The leaders led Israel.
The people volunteered to go to battle.
Praise the Lord!
3 Listen, kings.
Pay attention, rulers!
I myself will sing to the Lord.
I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 “Lord, in the past you came from Edom.
You marched from the land of Edom,
and the earth shook.
The skies rained,
and the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains shook before the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai.
They shook before the Lord, the God of Israel!
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty.
Travelers went on the back roads.
7 There were no warriors in Israel
until I, Deborah, arose.
I arose to be a mother to Israel.
8 At that time they chose to follow new gods.
Because of this, enemies fought us at our city gates.
No one could find a shield or a spear
among the 40,000 men of Israel.
9 My heart is with the commanders of Israel.
They volunteered freely from among the people.
Praise the Lord!
10 “You who ride on white donkeys
and sit on saddle blankets, listen!
And you who walk along the road, listen!
11 Listen to the sound of the singers
at the watering holes.
There they tell about the victories of the Lord.
They tell about the victories of the Lord’s warriors in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.
12 “Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Go capture your enemies, son of Abinoam!
13 “Then the men who were left came down to the important leaders.
The Lord’s people came down to me with strong men.
14 They came from Ephraim in the mountains of Amalek.
Benjamin was among the people who followed you.
From the family group of Makir in West Manasseh, the commanders came down.
And from Zebulun came those men who lead with an officer’s staff.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah.
The people of Issachar were loyal to Barak.
They followed him into the valley.
The Reubenites thought hard
about what they would do.
16 Why did you stay by the sheepfold?
Was it to hear the music played for your sheep?
The Reubenites thought hard
about what they would do.
17 The people of Gilead stayed east of the Jordan River.
People of Dan, why did you stay by the ships?
The people of Asher stayed at the seashore.
They stayed at their safe harbors.
18 But the people of Zebulun risked their lives.
So did the people of Naphtali on the battlefield.
19 “The kings came, and they fought.
At that time the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.
But they took away no silver or possessions of Israel.
20 The stars fought from heaven.
From their paths, they fought Sisera.
21 The Kishon River swept Sisera’s men away,
that old river, the Kishon River.
March on, my soul, with strength!
22 Then the horses’ hooves beat the ground.
Galloping, galloping go Sisera’s mighty horses.
23 ‘May the town of Meroz be cursed,’ said the angel of the Lord.
‘Bitterly curse its people,
because they did not come to help the Lord.
They did not fight the strong enemy.’
24 “May Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
be blessed above all women who live in tents.
25 Sisera asked for water,
but Jael gave him milk.
In a bowl fit for a ruler,
she brought him cream.
26 Jael reached out and took the tent peg.
Her right hand reached for the workman’s hammer.
And she hit Sisera! She smashed his head!
She crushed and pierced the side of his head!
27 At Jael’s feet he sank.
He fell, and he lay there.
At her feet he sank. He fell.
Where Sisera sank, there he fell, dead!
28 “Sisera’s mother looked out through the window.
She looked through the curtains.
She asked, ‘Why is Sisera’s chariot so late in coming?
Why are sounds of his chariots’ horses delayed?’
29 The wisest of her servant ladies answer her.
And Sisera’s mother says to herself,
30 ‘Surely they are taking the possessions of the people they defeated!
Surely they are dividing those things among themselves!
A girl or two is being given to each soldier.
Maybe Sisera is taking pieces of dyed cloth.
Maybe they are even taking
pieces of dyed, embroidered cloth for the necks of the victors!’
31 “Let all your enemies die this way, Lord!
But let all the people who love you
be powerful like the rising sun!”
So there was peace in the land for 40 years.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
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