Judges 4:17-22

The Voice

¹⁷Sisera had fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, and he must have thought himself safe at last, since there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael went out to meet Sisera.

Jael: Come in, my lord, come in with me. There is nothing to be afraid of here.

So he came inside the tent with her, and she covered him with a rug just in case some of Barak’s soldiers came looking for him.

Sisera: ¹⁹May I have a little water to drink?

He was very thirsty, so she opened a skin filled with milk and gave him a little, then covered him again.

Sisera: ²⁰Stand and wait at the opening to the tent. If anybody comes and asks you, “Is anyone inside?” tell them “No.”

²¹Sisera fell into a deep sleep, for he was weary. Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. She crept softly to his side. Then she drove the peg into his temple, down into the ground, and killed him.

²²When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him.

Jael: Come inside, and I will show you the man you seek.

So he went into the tent with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg driven through his head.

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