Judges 3-5 (Darby Translation)

Judges 3

 ¹And these are the nations that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that had not known all the wars of Canaan;

 ²only that the generations of the children of Israel might know war by learning it, at the least those who before had known nothing thereof:

 ³five lord ships of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwell on mount Lebanon; from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

 ⁴And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

 ⁵And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites: Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and Jebusites;

 ⁶and they took their daughters as wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

 ⁷And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

 ⁸And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.

 ⁹And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

 ¹⁰And the Spirit of Jehovah was upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.

 ¹¹And the land had rest forty years; and Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

 ¹²And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

 ¹³And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel, and they took possession of the city of palm-trees.

 ¹⁴And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

 ¹⁵And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah, and Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a man left-handed. And by him the children of Israel sent a gift to Eglon king of Moab.

 ¹⁶And Ehud made him a sword having two edges, it was of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right hip.

 ¹⁷And he brought the gift to Eglon king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man.

 ¹⁸And it came to pass when he had ended offering the gift, he sent away the people that had borne the gift.

 ¹⁹But he turned from the graven images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret word unto thee, O king. And he said, Be silent! And all that stood by him went out from him.

 ²⁰And Ehud came to him; now he was sitting in the cool upper-chamber, which was for him alone. And Ehud said, I have a word from God unto thee. And he arose from the seat.

 ²¹Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right hip, and thrust it into his belly;

 ²²and the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade; for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and it came out between the legs.

 ²³And Ehud went out into the portico, and shut the doors of the upper-chamber upon him, and bolted them.

 ²⁴And when he was gone out, the servants of the [king] came and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper-chamber were bolted. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the summer chamber.

 ²⁵And they waited till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the upper-chamber, and they took the key, and opened [them], and behold, their lord lay dead on the earth.

 ²⁶And Ehud had escaped while they lingered, and passed beyond the graven images, and escaped to Seirah.

 ²⁷And it came to pass when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.

 ²⁸And he said to them, Follow after me, for Jehovah has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered no one to pass over.

 ²⁹And they slew the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of valour, and not a man escaped.

 ³⁰And Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

 ³¹And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath; and he smote the Philistines, six hundred men, with an ox-goad. And he also delivered Israel.

Judges 4

 ¹And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; now Ehud was dead.

 ²And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the captain of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-Goim.

 ³And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years.

 ⁴And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, 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 Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded? Go and draw towards 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 torrent Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will give him into thy hand.

 ⁸And Barak said to her, If thou goest with me, then I will go, but if thou goest not with me, I will not go.

 ⁹And she said, I will by all means go with thee, only that it will not be to thine honour upon the way which thou goest, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

 ¹⁰And Barak called together Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and there went up at his feet ten thousand men; and Deborah went up with him.

 ¹¹(Now Heber the Kenite had severed himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak of Zaannaim, which is by Kedesh.)

 ¹²And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to mount Tabor.

 ¹³Then Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth-Goim to the torrent Kishon.

 ¹⁴And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Jehovah hath given Sisera into thy hand! Is not Jehovah gone out before thee? And Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

 ¹⁵And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got down from [his] chariot, and fled on foot.

 ¹⁶And Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth-Goim; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left.

 ¹⁷And Sisera fled on foot 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 to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he turned in to her, into the tent, and she covered him with the quilt.

 ¹⁹And he said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened the flask of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

 ²⁰And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be if any one come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.

 ²¹And Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took the hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it penetrated into the ground; for he had fallen into a deep sleep and was faint; and he died.

 ²²And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And he went into her [tent], and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the pin was in his temples.

 ²³So God subdued on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

 ²⁴And the hand of the children of Israel ever advanced, and prevailed against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

Judges 5

 ¹Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, saying,

 ²For that leaders led in Israel, For that the people willingly offered themselves, Bless Jehovah!

 ³Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes, I, [even] I, will sing to Jehovah; I will hymn to Jehovah the God of Israel.

 ⁴Jehovah, when thou wentest forth from Seir, When thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom, The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water.

 ⁵The mountains quaked before the face of Jehovah, That Sinai, from before Jehovah the God of Israel.

 ⁶In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, The roads were unused, and the travellers on highways went by crooked paths.

 ⁷The villages ceased in Israel, Ceased until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.

 ⁸They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

 ⁹My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Jehovah!

 ¹⁰Ye that ride on white she-asses, ye that sit on carpets, and ye that walk by the way, consider.

 ¹¹Because of the voice of those who divide [the spoil] in the midst of the places of drawing water; There they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, His righteous acts toward his villages in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

 ¹²Awake, awake, Deborah! awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead captive thy captives, thou son of Abinoam!

 ¹³Then come down, thou, the remnant of nobles, [as his] people; Jehovah! come down with me in the midst of the mighty ones.

 ¹⁴Out of Ephraim [came] those whose root was in Amalek; After thee was Benjamin among thy peoples. Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handled the staff of the ruler.

 ¹⁵And the princes in Issachar were with Deborah; And Issachar, like Barak; They were sent into the valley at his feet. In the divisions of Reuben there were great resolves of heart!

 ¹⁶Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the bleating of the flocks? In the divisions of Reuben there were great deliberations of heart!

 ¹⁷Gilead abode beyond Jordan; And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat on the sea-shore, And abode in his creeks.

 ¹⁸Zebulun is a people [that] jeoparded their lives unto death, Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

 ¹⁹Kings came, -- they fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan; At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took no spoil of silver.

 ²⁰From heaven was the fight; The stars from their courses fought with Sisera.

 ²¹The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. My soul, thou hast trodden down strength!

 ²²Then did the horse-hoofs clatter with the coursings, The coursings of their steeds.

 ²³Curse Meroz, saith the Angel of Jehovah; Curse, curse the inhabitants thereof; For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty.

 ²⁴Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, Blessed above women in the tent!

 ²⁵He asked water, she gave milk; In the nobles' bowl she brought forth cream.

 ²⁶She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And she smote Sisera, she struck through his head, Shattered and pierced through his temples.

 ²⁷Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell, overcome.

 ²⁸Them other of Sisera looketh out at the window, And crieth through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the trampings of his chariots?

 ²⁹The wise amongst her ladies answer [her], Yea, she returneth answer to herself,

 ³⁰Have they not found, divided the booty, A damsel, two damsels, to each? A booty of dyed stuffs for Sisera, A booty of dyed stuffs of embroidery, Dyed stuff of double embroidery for the neck of a spoiler?

 ³¹So let all thine enemies perish, Jehovah! But let them that love him be as the rising of the sun in its might. And the land had rest forty years.