Beginning
Chapter 3
1 Now these are the nations that the Lord left to put Israel to the test through them (that is, all of those who had not experienced the wars in Canaan). 2 This was so that the descendants of the Israelites might learn about war, for up to that time they had not yet experienced it. 3 They were the five lords of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who were living in the mountains of Lebanon between Mount Baal-hermon and Lebo-hamath. 4 They were left there to put Israel to the test to see whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord that the Lord had given them through Moses.
5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters to be their wives, they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
The Period of the Judges
Othniel’s Conquest.[a] 7 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord, their God, and serving the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the Lord blazed out against Israel, so he sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Aram-naharaim.[b] The Israelites were subjected to Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord sent the Israelites a liberator. It was Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, and he delivered them. 10 The Spirit of the Lord[c] came upon him, and he became a judge of Israel. He went to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Aram-naharaim, into his hands. His hand overpowered Cushan-rishathaim. 11 The land was at peace for forty years, and then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died.
12 Ehud’s Victory. The Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Because of the evil they had done in the sight of the Lord, the Lord gave Eglon, the king of Moab, power over Israel. 13 He joined up with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and they went and attacked Israel, conquering the City of Palms. 14 The Israelites were subjects of Eglon, the king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 The Israelites cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a liberator for them. He was Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.[d] The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab. 16 Ehud had made a double-edged sword that was one foot[e] long, and he strapped it on under his clothing on his right thigh. 17 He brought the tribute to Eglon. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had received the tribute, he dismissed the people who were carrying the tribute. 19 At the idols of Gilgal, he turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Be quiet,” until all his attendants left him. 20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As he got out of his seat, 21 Ehud reached in with his left hand, drew the sword out from his right thigh, and stuck it into his stomach. 22 It went in so far that even the handle of the sword was covered over by fat, and he could not draw the sword out from his stomach. In fact, excrement came out.
23 When Ehud went out onto the porch, he shut and locked the doors to the upper room behind himself. 24 When he left, the servants came back. They saw that the doors to the upper room were locked, and they said, “He must be relieving himself in the summer chamber.” 25 They waited so long that they became anxious, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. They took a key and opened it, and they found their lord dead on the ground.
26 While they were waiting, Ehud was able to escape. Passing beyond the idols, he hurried to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country of Ephraim, and he stood in front of them. 28 He said, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.” They followed him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and they did not let anyone cross over. 29 They slew around ten thousand of the Moabites that day, all of them robust and courageous warriors, and not one of them escaped. 30 Moab was vanquished that day under the hand of Israel, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.
31 Deliverance by Shamgar. He was succeeded by Shamgar,[f] the son of Anath. He killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad, and he delivered Israel.
Chapter 4
Judges Deborah and Barak. 1 After Ehud died the Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 The Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. 3 The Israelites cried out to the Lord, for he had nine hundred iron chariots. He oppressed the Israelites terribly for twenty years.
4 Now Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, a prophetess, was then a judge in Israel.[g] 5 She used to sit underneath the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites would come up to her for judgment there. 6 She summoned Barak, the son of Ahinoam, from Kadesh of Naphtali, and she said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun with yourself and march toward Mount Tabor.[h] 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and his forces, to the Kishon River, and I will deliver him up into your hands.’ ” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, then I will go, but if you do not go with me, then I will not go.” 9 She said, “Fine, I will go with you. But because of how you are doing this, it will not work out to your glory. The Lord will hand Sisera over into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah rose up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak had summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men were under his command, and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber, the Kenite, had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses. He pitched his tent by the terebinth of Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 They reported to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all of the men who were with him, and he traveled from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Deborah said to Barak, “Rise up, for this is the day that the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hands. Has the Lord not gone out before you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his men.
15 The Lord routed Sisera before Barak at the edge of the sword along with all his chariots and all his troops. Sisera climbed down from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-haggoyim. All of the troops of Sisera fell to the sword; there was not a survivor left among them.
17 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 Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to greet Sisera. She said to him, “Come in, my lord, come right in. Do not be afraid.” He came into the tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened up a skin of milk, gave him some to drink, and covered him again. 20 He told her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes by and asks, ‘Is there anyone here,’ tell that person, ‘No.’ ” 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, got a tent peg, she took a hammer in her hands, and she snuck up to him when he was in a deep sleep. She drove it through his temple into the ground, and he died.[i]
22 Barak passed by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael came out to him and said to him, “Come in, I will show you the man you are looking for.” He found Sisera dead, the peg through his temple. 23 On that day the Lord brought Jabin, the king of Canaan, into subjection to the Israelites. 24 The hand of the Israelites constantly grew stronger against Jabin, the king of Canaan, until they had crushed Jabin, the king of Canaan.
Chapter 5[j]
The Song of Deborah. 1 On that day Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang,
2 “Israel’s leaders led bravely,
the people followed gladly,
praise the Lord.
3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes,
for I, myself, will sing about the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched out of the fields in Edom,
the earth trembled, and the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.[k]
5 The mountains quaked before the Lord,
he who was on Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,
in the days of Jael,
the highways were deserted,
travelers took winding paths.
7 Village life ceased in Israel,
it ceased until I, Deborah,
until I rose up as mother in Israel.[l]
8 When they chose new gods,
war showed up at the gates.
Not a shield nor a spear was to be found
among the forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart was with the leaders of Israel;
they offered themselves willingly with the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 Speak, you who ride on white donkeys,
who sit in judgment,
who walk along the ways.
11 Far from the noise of archers,
in the places where there is water,
there they shall recount the righteous deeds of the Lord,
his righteous deeds toward his villagers in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord will go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah.
Awake, awake, sing a song.
Arise, O Barak,
and lead your captives away,
O son of Abinoam.
13 Then the remnant of the nobles marched,
the people of the Lord came to me with the mighty.
14 Some came from Ephraim,
whose roots were in Amalek;
Benjamin was with your people who followed you.
From Machir[m] officers came down,
from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s staff.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah,
Issachar was with Barak;
he sent them into the valley under his command.
In the districts of Reuben
there were serious doubts.
16 Why did you stay among the sheep folds
to hear the bleating of the flocks?
In the districts of Reuben
there were serious doubts.
17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan.
Dan, why did he remain by the ships?
Asher remained by the seashore
and stayed in his coves.[n]
18 The people of Zebulun risked their lives,
as did Naphtali on the heights of the field.
19 Kings came and fought;
the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,
but they took no plunder, no silver.
20 From the heavens the stars fought on;[o]
they fought against Sisera in their courses.
21 The Wadi Kishon swept them away;
the ancient wadi,
the Wadi Kishon.
March on, O my soul, be strong.
22 Then the horses’ hoof beats thundered,
galloping, galloping, go the mighty steeds.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’[p] said the angel,
‘bitterly curse those who live there.
They did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty.’
24 You will be blessed above other women,
O Jael, wife of Heber, the Kenite;
you are blessed above other women who live in tents.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk.
In a dish fit for royalty, she brought him cream.
26 Her hand reached for a tent peg,
her right hand for a workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera; she crushed his head,
she pierced and bored through his temple.
27 He sank down to her feet,
fell down and lay there.
At her feet he sank and fell down;
where he sank, there he fell, dead!
28 Sisera’s mother looked out through a window,
she cried from behind the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot taking so long?
Why is the clatter of chariots so late in coming?’
29 The wisest of her ladies answers her,
indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30 ‘Are they having trouble finding and dividing the spoils?
A woman or two to each man,
colorful garments as plunder to Sisera,
the plunder of garments with colorful needlework,
colorful needlework for around the plunderer’s neck?’
31 So may all of your enemies perish, O Lord,
may those who love him come forth like the mighty sun.”
There was then peace in the land for forty years.
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