Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Barak answered her: “If you go with me, I’ll go; but if you won’t go with me, I won’t go.” ⁹ She replied, “Yes, I will gladly go with you; but the way you are doing it will bring you no glory; because Adonai will hand Sisra over to a woman.” Then D’vorah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Barak summoned Z’vulun and Naftali to come to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him, and D’vorah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Hever the Keini had cut himself off from the rest of Kayin, the descendants of Hovav Moshe’s father-in-law; he had pitched his tent near the oak at Tza‘ananim, which is close to Kedesh. ¹² Sisra was informed that Barak the son of Avino‘am had gone up to Mount Tavor. ¹³ So Sisra rallied his chariots, all 900 iron chariots, and all the troops he had with him, from Haroshet-HaGoyim to the Kishon River.

¹⁴ D’vorah said to Barak: “Get going! This is the day when Adonai will hand Sisra over to you! Adonai has gone out ahead of you!” So Barak went down from Mount Tavor with 10,000 men following him; ¹⁵ and Adonai threw Sisra, all his chariots and his entire army into a panic before Barak’s sword; so that Sisra got down from his chariot and fled on foot. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and the army all the way to Haroshet-HaGoyim. Sisra’s entire army was put to the sword; not one man was left.

¹⁷ However, Sisra ran on foot to the tent of Ya‘el the wife of Hever the Keini, because there was peace between Yavin the king of Hatzor and the family of Hever the Keini. ¹⁸ Ya‘el went out to meet Sisra and said to him, “Come in, my lord; stay here with me; and don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. ¹⁹ He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink — I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin of milk, gave him some to drink, and covered him up again. ²⁰ He said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent; and if anyone asks you if somebody is here, say, ‘No.’” ²¹ But when he was deeply asleep, Ya‘el the wife of Hever took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, crept in to him quietly and drove the tent peg into his temple, right through to the ground; so that he died without waking up. ²² So here is Barak pursuing Sisra, and Ya‘el steps out to meet him and says, “Come, I will show you the man you are looking for.” He goes into her tent; and there is Sisra, lying dead with the tent peg through his temple.

²³ Thus God on that day defeated Yavin the king of Kena‘an in the presence of the people of Isra’el. ²⁴ The hand of the people of Isra’el came down more and more heavily against Yavin the king of Kena‘an, until they had completely destroyed Yavin the king of Kena‘an.

2 Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, passing judgment; for when you judge someone else, you are passing judgment against yourself; since you who are judging do the same things he does. ² We know that God’s judgment lands impartially on those who do such things; ³ do you think that you, a mere man passing judgment on others who do such things, yet doing them yourself, will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or perhaps you despise the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience; because you don’t realize that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to turn from your sins. ⁵ But by your stubbornness, by your unrepentant heart, you are storing up anger for yourself on the Day of Anger, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed; ⁶ for he will pay back each one according to his deeds.^{[a] 7} To those who seek glory, honor and immortality by perseverance in doing good, he will pay back eternal life. ⁸ But to those who are self-seeking, who disobey the truth and obey evil, he will pay back wrath and anger.

⁹ Yes, he will pay back misery and anguish to every human being who does evil, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile; ¹⁰ but glory and honor and shalom to everyone who keeps doing what is good, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.