¹⁷ Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands.

¹² They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord.

¹⁹ There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews. ²⁰ So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles,^[a] they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith. ²¹ The charges were as follows: a quarter of an ounce^[b] of silver for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce^[c] for sharpening an ax or making the point of an ox goad. ²² So on the day of the battle none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan.

³ Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help.