Judges 3-5 (Contemporary English Version)

Judges 3

 ^1-2And the LORD had another reason for letting these enemies stay. The Israelites needed to learn how to fight in war, just as their ancestors had done. Each new generation would have to learn by fighting

    ³the Philistines and their five rulers, as well as the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal-Hermon to Hamath Pass. ^[a]

    ⁴Moses had told the Israelites what the LORD had commanded them to do, and now the LORD was using these nations to find out if Israel would obey.

    ^5-6But they refused. And it was because of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who lived all around them. Some of the Israelites married the people of these nations, and that's how they started worshiping foreign gods.

   

Othniel

 ⁷The Israelites sinned against the LORD by forgetting him and worshiping idols of Baal and Astarte.

    ⁸This made the LORD angry, so he let Israel be defeated by King Cushan Rishathaim of northern Syria, ^[b] who ruled Israel eight years and made everyone pay taxes.

    ⁹The Israelites begged the LORD for help, and he chose Othniel to rescue them. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. ^[c]

    ¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD took control of Othniel, and he led Israel in a war against Cushan Rishathaim. The LORD gave Othniel victory,

    ¹¹and Israel was at peace until Othniel died about forty years later.

   

Ehud

 ¹²Once more the Israelites started disobeying the LORD. So he let them be defeated by King Eglon of Moab,

    ¹³who had joined forces with the Ammonites and the Amalekites to attack Israel. Eglon and his army captured Jericho. ^[d]

    ¹⁴Then he ruled Israel for eighteen years and forced the Israelites to pay heavy taxes.

    ^15-16The Israelites begged the LORD for help, and the LORD chose Ehud ^[e] from the Benjamin tribe to rescue them. They put Ehud in charge of taking the taxes to King Eglon, but before Ehud went, he made a double-edged dagger. Ehud was left-handed, so he strapped the dagger to his right thigh, where it would be hidden under his robes.

    ^17-18Ehud and some other Israelites took the taxes to Eglon, who was a very fat man. As soon as they gave the taxes to Eglon, Ehud said it was time to go home.

    ^19-20Ehud went with the other Israelites as far as the statues ^[f] at Gilgal. ^[g] Then he turned back and went upstairs to the cool room ^[h] where Eglon had his throne. Ehud said, " Your Majesty, I need to talk with you in private." Eglon replied, " Don't say anything yet!" His officials left the room, and Eglon stood up as Ehud came closer.

   " Yes," Ehud said, " I have a message for you from God!"

    ²¹Ehud pulled out the dagger with his left hand and shoved it so far into Eglon's stomach

    ^22-23that even the handle was buried in his fat. Ehud left the dagger there. Then after closing and locking the doors to the room, he climbed through a window onto the porch ^[i]

    ²⁴and left. When the king's officials came back and saw that the doors were locked, they said, " The king is probably inside relieving himself."

    ²⁵They stood there waiting until they felt foolish, but Eglon never opened the doors. Finally, they unlocked the doors and found King Eglon lying dead on the floor.

    ²⁶But by that time, Ehud had already escaped past the statues. ^[j] Ehud went to the town of Seirah

    ^27-28in the hill country of Ephraim and started blowing a signal on a trumpet. The Israelites came together, and he shouted, " Follow me! The LORD will help us defeat the Moabites."

   The Israelites followed Ehud down to the Jordan valley, and they captured the places where people cross the river on the way to Moab. They would not let anyone go across,

    ²⁹and before the fighting was over, they killed about ten thousand Moabite warriors--not one escaped alive.

    ³⁰Moab was so badly defeated that it was a long time before they were strong enough to attack Israel again. And Israel was at peace for eighty years.

   

Shamgar

 ³¹Shamgar the son of Anath was the next to rescue Israel. In one battle, he used a sharp wooden pole ^[k] to kill six hundred Philistines.

   

Judges 4

Deborah and Barak

 ¹After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again started disobeying the LORD.

    ²So the LORD let the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor conquer Israel. Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, lived in Harosheth-Ha-Goiim.

    ³Jabin's army had nine hundred iron chariots, and for twenty years he made life miserable for the Israelites, until finally they begged the LORD for help.

    ⁴Deborah the wife of Lappidoth was a prophet and a leader ^[l] of Israel during those days.

    ⁵She would sit under Deborah's Palm Tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where Israelites would come and ask her to settle their legal cases.

    ⁶One day, Barak the son of Abinoam was in Kedesh in Naphtali, and Deborah sent word for him to come and talk with her. When he arrived, she said:

   I have a message for you from the LORD God of Israel! You are to get together an army of ten thousand men from the Naphtali and Zebulun tribes and lead them to Mount Tabor.

    ⁷The LORD will trick Sisera into coming out to fight you at the Kishon River. Sisera will be leading King Jabin's army as usual, and they will have their chariots, but the LORD has promised to help you defeat them.

    ⁸" I'm not going unless you go!" Barak told her.

    ⁹" All right, I'll go!" she replied. " But I'm warning you that the LORD is going to let a woman defeat Sisera, and no one will honor you for winning the battle."

   Deborah and Barak left for Kedesh,

    ¹⁰where Barak called together the troops from Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand soldiers gathered there, and Barak led them out from Kedesh. Deborah went too.

    ¹¹At this time, Heber of the Kenite clan was living near the village of Oak in Zaanannim, ^[m] not far from Kedesh. The Kenites were descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, but Heber had moved and had set up his tents away from the rest of the clan.

    ¹²When Sisera learned that Barak had led an army to Mount Tabor,

    ¹³he called his troops together and got all nine hundred iron chariots ready. Then he led his army away from Harosheth-Ha-Goiim to the Kishon River.

    ¹⁴Deborah shouted, " Barak, it's time to attack Sisera! Because today the LORD is going to help you defeat him. In fact, the LORD has already gone on ahead to fight for you."

   Barak led his ten thousand troops down from Mount Tabor.

    ¹⁵And during the battle, the LORD confused Sisera, his chariot drivers, and his whole army. Everyone was so afraid of Barak and his army, that even Sisera jumped down from his chariot and tried to escape.

    ¹⁶Barak's forces went after Sisera's chariots and army as far as Harosheth-Ha-Goiim.

   Sisera's entire army was wiped out.

    ¹⁷Only Sisera escaped. He ran to Heber's camp, because Heber and his family had a peace treaty with the king of Hazor. Sisera went to the tent that belonged to Jael, Heber's wife.

    ¹⁸She came out to greet him and said, " Come in, sir! Please come on in. Don't be afraid."

   After they had gone inside, Sisera lay down, and Jael covered him with a blanket.

    ¹⁹" Could I have a little water?" he asked. " I'm thirsty."

   Jael opened a leather bottle and poured him some milk, then she covered him back up.

    ²⁰" Stand at the entrance to the tent," Sisera told her. " If someone comes by and asks if anyone is inside, tell them `No.' "

    ²¹Sisera was exhausted and soon fell fast asleep. Jael took a hammer and drove a tent-peg through his head into the ground, and he died.

    ²²Meanwhile, Barak had been following Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. " The man you're looking for is inside," she said. " Come in and I'll show him to you."

   They went inside, and there was Sisera--dead and stretched out with a tent-peg through his skull.

    ²³That same day the Israelites defeated the Canaanite King Jabin, and his army was no longer powerful enough to attack the Israelites.

    ²⁴Jabin grew weaker while the Israelites kept growing stronger, and at last the Israelites destroyed him.

   

Judges 5

Deborah and Barak Sing for the LORD

 ¹After the battle was over that day, Deborah and Barak sang this song:

    ²We praise you, LORD!

   Our soldiers volunteered,

   ready to follow you.

    ³Listen, kings and rulers,

   while I sing for the LORD,

   the God of Israel.

    ⁴Our LORD, God of Israel,

   when you came from Seir,

   where the Edomites live,

    ⁵rain poured from the sky,

   the earth trembled,

   and mountains shook.

    ⁶In the time of Shamgar

   son of Anath,

   and now again in Jael's time,

   roads were too dangerous

   for caravans.

   Travelers had to take

   the back roads,

    ⁷and villagers couldn't work

   in their fields. ^[n] Then Deborah ^[o] took command, protecting Israel

   as a mother

   protects her children.

    ⁸The Israelites worshiped

   other gods,

   and the gates of their towns

   were then attacked. ^[p] But they had no shields

   or spears to fight with.

    ⁹I praise you, LORD,

   and I am grateful

   for those leaders and soldiers

   who volunteered.

    ¹⁰Listen, everyone!

   Whether you ride a donkey

   with a padded saddle

   or have to walk.

    ¹¹Even those who carry water ^[q] to the animals will tell you,

   " The LORD has won victories,

   and so has Israel."

   Then the LORD's people marched

   down to the town gates

    ¹²and said, " Deborah, let's go!

   Let's sing as we march.

   Barak, capture our enemies."

    ¹³The LORD's people who were left

   joined with their leaders

   and fought at my side. ^[r]

    ¹⁴Troops came from Ephraim,

   where Amalekites once lived.

   Others came from Benjamin;

   officers and leaders

   came

   from Machir and Zebulun.

    ¹⁵The rulers of Issachar

   came along with Deborah,

   and Issachar followed Barak

   into the valley.

   But the tribe of Reuben

   was no help at all! ^[s]

    ¹⁶Reuben, why did you stay

   among your sheep pens? ^[t] Was it to listen to shepherds

   whistling for their sheep?

   No one could figure out

   why Reuben wouldn't come. ^[u]

    ¹⁷The people of Gilead stayed

   across the Jordan.

   Why did the tribe of Dan

   remain on their ships

   and the tribe of Asher

   stay along the coast

   near the harbors?

    ¹⁸But soldiers of Zebulun

   and Naphtali

   risked their lives

   to attack the enemy. ^[v]

    ¹⁹Canaanite kings fought us

   at Taanach by the stream

   near Megiddo ^[w] -- but they couldn't rob us

   of our silver. ^[x]

    ²⁰From their pathways in the sky

   the stars ^[y] fought Sisera,

    ²¹and his soldiers were swept away

   by the ancient Kishon River.

   I will march on and be brave.

    ²²Sisera's horses galloped off,

   their hoofs thundering

   in retreat.

    ²³The LORD's angel said,

   " Put a curse on Meroz Town!

   Its people refused

   to help the LORD fight

   his powerful enemies."

    ²⁴But honor Jael,

   the wife of Heber

   from the Kenite clan.

   Give more honor to her

   than to any other woman

   who lives in tents.

   Yes, give more honor to her

   than to any other woman.

    ²⁵Sisera asked for water,

   but Jael gave him milk--

   cream in a fancy cup.

    ²⁶She reached for a tent-peg

   and held a hammer

   in her right hand.

   And with a blow to the head,

   she crushed his skull.

    ²⁷Sisera sank to his knees

   and fell dead at her feet.

    ²⁸Sisera's mother looked out

   through her window.

   " Why is he taking so long?"

   she asked.

   " Why haven't we heard

   his chariots coming?"

    ²⁹She and her wisest women

   gave the same answer:

    ³⁰" Sisera and his troops

   are finding treasures

   to bring back--

   a woman, or maybe two,

   for each man,

   and beautiful dresses

   for those women to wear." ^[z]

    ³¹Our LORD, we pray

   that all your enemies

   will die like Sisera.

   But let everyone who loves you

   shine brightly

   like the sun

   at dawn.

   There was peace in Israel for about forty years.