Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins

Deborah

4 When Ehud was dead, ^(A)the children of Israel again did ^(B)evil in the sight of the Lord. ² So the Lord ^(C)sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in ^(D)Hazor. The commander of his army was ^(E)Sisera, who dwelt in ^(F)Harosheth Hagoyim. ³ And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred ^(G)chariots of iron, and for twenty years ^(H)he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

⁴ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ^5 (I)And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Then she sent and called for ^(J)Barak the son of Abinoam from ^(K)Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and ^[a]deploy troops at Mount ^(L)Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; ⁷ and against you ^(M)I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the ^(N)River Kishon; and I will ^[b]deliver him into your hand’?”

⁸ And 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 So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will ^(O)sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ And Barak called ^(P)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men ^(Q)under^[c] his command, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber ^(R)the Kenite, of the children of ^(S)Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, ^(T)which is beside Kedesh.

¹² And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, ^[d]“Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. ^(U)Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. ¹⁵ And 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 a man was ^(V)left.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ^11 (A)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[a]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^(B)principalities, against powers, against ^(C)the rulers of ^[b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ^13 (D)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand ^(E)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, ^(F)having girded your waist with truth, ^(G)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ^15 (H)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking ^(I)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And ^(J)take the helmet of salvation, and ^(K)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;