Judges 4-5
New American Standard Bible 1995
Deborah and Barak Deliver from Canaanites
4 Then (A)the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of (B)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in (C)Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 The sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred (D)iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
4 Now Deborah, a [a]prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to [b]sit under the (E)palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Now she sent and summoned (F)Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “[c]Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. 7 I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his [d]many troops to the river Kishon, and (G)I will give him into your hand.’” 8 Then 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 She said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, (H)for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak called (I)Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up [e](J)with him; Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber (K)the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the [f]oak in (L)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera called together all his chariots, (M)nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from (N)Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hands; [g]behold, (O)the Lord has gone out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 (P)The Lord [h]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; (Q)not even one was left.
17 Now Sisera fled away 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. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a [i]rug. 19 (R)He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a [j]bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. 20 He said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, (S)took a tent peg and [k]seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered [l]with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.
23 So (T)God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. 24 The hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had [m]destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.
The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 (U)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2 “(V)That [n]the leaders led in Israel,
That (W)the people volunteered,
Bless the Lord!
3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!
(X)I—to the Lord, I will sing,
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 “(Y)Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
(Z)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Even the clouds dripped water.
5 “(AA)The mountains [o]quaked at the presence of the Lord,
(AB)This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (AC)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of (AD)Jael, the highways [p]were deserted,
And travelers [q]went by [r]roundabout ways.
7 “The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 “(AE)New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 “My heart goes out to (AF)the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the Lord!
10 “(AG)You who ride on [s]white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—[t]sing!
11 “At the sound of those who divide flocks among (AH)the watering places,
There they shall recount (AI)the righteous deeds of the Lord,
The righteous deeds for His [u]peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down (AJ)to the gates.
12 “(AK)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, [v]sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and (AL)take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
13 “Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.
14 “From Ephraim those whose root is (AM)in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of [w]office.
15 “And the [x]princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed (AN)at his [y]heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
16 “Why did you sit among (AO)the [z]sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 “(AP)Gilead [aa]remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay in ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And [ab]remained by its landings.
18 “(AQ)Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,
And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
19 “(AR)The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan
(AS)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
(AT)They took no plunder in silver.
20 “(AU)The stars fought from heaven,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 “The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
(AV)O my soul, march on with strength.
22 “(AW)Then the horses’ hoofs beat
From the dashing, the dashing of his [ac]valiant steeds.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord,
‘Utterly curse its inhabitants;
(AX)Because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the warriors.’
24 “(AY)Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
25 “He asked for water and she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
26 “She reached out her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 “Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell [ad]dead.
28 “Out of the window she looked and lamented,
The mother of Sisera through the [ae]lattice,
‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the [af]hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’
29 “Her wise princesses would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
30 ‘(AZ)Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?
A maiden, two maidens for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,
A spoil of dyed work embroidered,
Dyed work of double embroidery on the [ag]neck of the spoiler?’
31 “(BA)Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord;
(BB)But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
And the land was undisturbed for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 4:4 Lit woman prophetess
- Judges 4:5 Or live
- Judges 4:6 Or Has not...commanded...?
- Judges 4:7 Lit multitude
- Judges 4:10 Lit at his feet
- Judges 4:11 Or terebinth
- Judges 4:14 Or has not the Lord gone...?
- Judges 4:15 Lit confused
- Judges 4:18 Or blanket
- Judges 4:19 I.e. skin container
- Judges 4:21 Lit placed
- Judges 4:22 Lit to
- Judges 4:24 Lit cut off
- Judges 5:2 Or locks hung loose in
- Judges 5:5 Lit flowed
- Judges 5:6 Lit had ceased
- Judges 5:6 Lit walked
- Judges 5:6 Lit twisted
- Judges 5:10 Or tawny
- Judges 5:10 Or declare it
- Judges 5:11 Or rural dwellers
- Judges 5:12 Or utter
- Judges 5:14 Lit the scribe
- Judges 5:15 So with ancient versions; Heb My princes
- Judges 5:15 Lit feet
- Judges 5:16 Or saddlebags
- Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
- Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
- Judges 5:22 Lit mighty ones
- Judges 5:27 Lit devastated
- Judges 5:28 Or window
- Judges 5:28 Lit steps
- Judges 5:30 Lit necks of the spoil
Judges 4-5
King James Version
4 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.
2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 And 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.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet 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.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
5 The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.
10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31 So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
