| Chapter 4 |
| 1 | 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 honor; 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 showed 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 inquire 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 show 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. |
