Beginning
The Land That Remains Unconquered
3 The following are the nations that the Lord left in place in order to test all the Israelites who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 (This was done so that the generations of Israelites who did not know war would learn how to wage war.) 3 Those who remained were the five serens[a] of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwell in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.[b] 4 They remained there to test Israel, in order to know whether or not they would obey the commands of the Lord, which he commanded to their fathers by the hand of Moses.
The Cycles Begin
The First Judge: Othniel Versus the Arameans
5 The people of Israel lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 They took the daughters of these peoples as wives for themselves, and they gave their own daughters to the other peoples’ sons. They also served their gods.
7 Then the people of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.[c] 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim, who was the king of Aram Naharaim.[d] The Israelites served Cushan Rishathaim for eight years. 9 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites, who saved them.
The deliverer was Othniel, son of Kenaz, the youngest brother of Caleb.[e] 10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him. He served as Israel’s judge. When he went out to wage war, the Lord gave Cushan Rishathaim, the king of Aram, into his hand, and his hand was strong against Cushan Rishathaim. 11 Then the land was quiet for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.
The Second Judge: Ehud Versus the Moabites
12 Again the people of Israel committed evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel because they had committed evil in the eyes of the Lord.
13 Eglon took Ammonites and Amalekites along with him. He advanced and attacked Israel and took possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the people of Israel served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Again the people of Israel called out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for them. The deliverer was Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite, who was left-handed.[f]
The Israelites sent him with a tribute payment for Eglon king of Moab. 16 Ehud made a double-edged sword for himself, about eighteen inches long,[g] and he strapped it under his clothing on his right thigh.
17 Ehud presented the tribute payment to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute payment, he sent the men who had delivered the tribute on their way. 19 But after he himself had passed the carved images that were at Gilgal, Ehud turned back and told the king, “I have a secret for you, O king!”
The king said, “Quiet, everyone,” so all his attendants left the room.
20 Ehud approached Eglon as Eglon was sitting in the cool upper chamber, all alone. Ehud said, “I have something from God for you.” So Eglon stood up from the throne. 21 Ehud reached out his left hand and took the sword that was on his right thigh and drove it into Eglon’s belly. 22 As the hilt went in after the blade, Eglon’s fat closed behind the blade. Ehud did not draw the sword out from Eglon’s belly, and the contents of his bowels came out. 23 Ehud then went out to the vestibule,[h] shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him, and locked them. 24 Then off he went!
When Eglon’s servants came back, they were surprised to see that the doors of the upper chamber were locked. They said, “He must be using the toilet.”[i] 25 They waited until the delay became embarrassing, but no one opened the doors to the upper chamber. Finally they took the key and opened the door. And there he was. Their master was lying on the ground—dead!
26 While they delayed, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the carved images and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, ram’s horns were sounded throughout the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites marched down from the hill country with Ehud leading the way. 28 He said to them, “Follow me, because the Lord has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.” So they pursued them, captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and let no one cross. 29 At this time they struck down about ten thousand men of Moab, every one robust, each one a powerful warrior. Not one escaped. 30 This is how Moab was humbled on that day under the hand of Israel, and the land was quiet for eighty years.
The Third Judge: Shamgar Versus the Philistines
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. He struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. He too delivered Israel.
The Fourth Judge: Deborah and Barak Versus the Canaanites
4 After Ehud died, once again the people of Israel committed evil in the eyes of the Lord. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Again the people of Israel called out to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots. He brutally oppressed the people of Israel for twenty years.
4 Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,[j] was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel would come to her for judgment.
6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 I will lure Sisera, commander of the army of Jabin, to you at the stream Kishon along with his chariots and his horde, and I will give him into your hand.’”
8 But Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go, but if you do not go with me, I will not go.”
9 She answered, “All right. I will go with you, but because of the way you are going about it, the honor will not be yours. The Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 Barak called up the forces of Zebulun and Naphtali to meet at Kedesh. Ten thousand men went up on foot, and Deborah also went up with him.
11 It happened that Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the other Kenites, who were the descendants of Hobab, the brother-in-law[k] of Moses, and he had set up his tent out by the oak tree in Za’anannim[l] near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera led out all his chariots (nine hundred iron chariots) and all the people who were with him from Harosheth Haggoyim, and they came to the stream Kishon.[m]
14 Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! Today is the day that the Lord has given Sisera into your hands! Is not the Lord going ahead of you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men followed him.
15 The Lord threw Sisera, all his chariots, and all his troops into confusion with the edge[n] of the sword of Barak. So Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the troops as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army fell by the edge of the sword. Not a single man was left.
17 Sisera meanwhile fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the household of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “This way, my lord. Come here to me! Do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her, went into her tent, and she hid him with a covering.
19 He said to her, “Give me something to drink, please—just a little water, because I am thirsty.” She opened a skin of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up.
20 After that, he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21 But then Jael wife of Heber took a tent stake, and gripping a hammer in her hand, she came to Sisera quietly and drove the stake through his temple, right through into the ground. Sisera had been fast asleep, exhausted—now he was dead!
22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael came out to meet him. She said to him, “Come in, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went with her, and there he was. Sisera was lying there dead, with the tent stake through his temple.
23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the people of Israel, 24 and the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan, until they cut down Jabin king of Canaan.
Deborah’s Song
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:[o]
2 When leaders take the lead in Israel,[p]
when the people freely offer themselves, bless the Lord!
3 Listen, kings! Lend an ear, rulers!
I will sing. Yes, I will sing to the Lord.
I will make music for the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched through the countryside of Edom,
the earth shook, the skies poured,
yes, the dark clouds poured water.
5 The mountains melted[q] before the Lord—this one of Sinai[r]—
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted,
and travelers kept to pathways and winding roads.
7 Life in the unwalled towns came to a halt.
In Israel, life came to a halt until I, Deborah, arose,
until I arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When Israel chose new gods,[s] there was war at the gates.
Neither shield nor spear was seen among the forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
to those who freely offer themselves among the people. Bless the Lord!
10 Riders on tan donkey mares, you who sit on saddle blankets,
as well as those who walk along the way—consider this:
11 Listen to the voices of those who divide flocks[t] between water holes,
where they recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
righteous acts for those who live in the unwalled towns in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the city gates.
12 Wake, awake, Deborah!
⎣Wake up the multitudes of the people.⎦
Wake, awake, sing a song.
Rise up, Barak!
⎣Deborah, strengthen Barak.⎦ [u]
Lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
13 Then a survivor subdued the mighty ones.[v]
The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.
14 Some came from Ephraim—their root is in Amalek.[w]
Behind you came Benjamin with your people.
From Makir the commanders came down,
and from Zebulun those carrying the staff of a scribe.
15 The officers of Issachar are with Deborah.
Yes, Issachar sent support for Barak into the valley on foot.[x]
But in the divisions of Reuben there was much soul searching.[y]
16 Why did you linger among the sheepfolds
to listen to the whistling for the flocks?
Concerning the divisions in Reuben, there was much soul searching.
17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan,
and Dan—why did he linger in ships?
Asher remained sitting on the seashore,
and upon its landing places he remained.
18 Zebulun is a people who scorned death and risked their lives,
and Naphtali stayed on the heights of the battlefields.
19 Kings came; they waged war.
There the kings of Canaan waged war,
in Ta’anach, at the waters of Megiddo,
but they gained no silver as plunder.
20 From the heavens the stars waged war.
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the torrent from ancient times, the torrent Kishon.
Keep marching, my soul, in strength.
22 Then the horses’ hoofs thundered,
the stampeding, the stampeding of their mighty stallions!
23 “Curse Meroz!” says the Angel of the Lord.
“Completely curse those who live in her,
because they did not come to assist the Lord,
to help the Lord among the warriors.”
24 Most blessed among women is Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite.
Most blessed is she among the women in the tent.
25 He asked for water, but she gave him milk.
In a bowl fit for a nobleman she presented curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent stake,
her right hand for the workman’s hammer,
and she hammered Sisera.
She smashed his head.
She shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet he knelt, he fell, he lay there.
Between her feet he knelt, he fell.
Where he sank, there he fell—destroyed.
28 Out the window she peers.
Sisera’s mother wails from behind the latticework.
“Why is his chariot so late in coming?
Why do I still not hear the clatter of his chariots?”
29 The wise women among her ladies answer,
but she keeps saying to herself,
30 “Aren’t they just finding and dividing the plunder?
A womb[z]—no—two wombs for every man.
Dyed goods as plunder for Sisera, dyed fabrics as spoils,
embroidered dyed material,
fancy embroidered fabric for my neck, plunder.”[aa]
31 Thus may all your enemies perish, Lord.
But those who love him will be
like the sun coming forth in its strength.
Then the land was quiet for forty years.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.