Richter 4,16 | New International Reader’s Version

Deborah

1 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 So the LORD handed them over to the power of Jabin. He was a king in Canaan. He ruled in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera. He lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Jabin used 900 chariots that had some iron parts. He treated the Israelites very badly for 20 years. So they cried out to the LORD for help. 4 Deborah was a prophet. She was the wife of Lappidoth. She was leading Israel at that time. 5 Under the Palm Tree of Deborah she served the people as their judge. That place was between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites went up to her there. They came to have her decide cases for them. She settled matters between them. 6 Deborah sent for Barak. He was the son of Abinoam. Barak was from Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, is giving you a command. He says, “Go! Take 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun with you. Then lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera into a trap. He is the commander of Jabin’s army. I will bring him, his chariots and his troops to the River Kishon. There I will hand him over to you.” ’ 8 Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I’ll go. But if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.’ 9 ‘All right’, Deborah said. ‘I’ll go with you. But because of the way you are doing this, you won’t receive any honour. Instead, the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.’ So Deborah went to Kedesh with Barak. 10 There he sent for men from Zebulun and Naphtali. And 10,000 men followed him into battle. Deborah also went with him. 11 Heber, the Kenite, had left the other Kenites. They came from the family line of Hobab. He was the brother-in-law of Moses. Heber set up his tent by the large tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. 12 Sisera was told that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together his 900 chariots that had some iron parts. He also gathered together all his men. He brought them from Harosheth Haggoyim to the River Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Go! Today the LORD will hand Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the LORD gone ahead of you?’ So Barak went down Mount Tabor. His 10,000 men followed him. 15 As Barak’s men marched out, the LORD drove Sisera away from the field of battle. The LORD scattered all of Sisera’s chariots. Barak’s men struck down Sisera’s army with their swords. Sisera got down from his chariot. He ran away on foot. 16 Barak chased Sisera’s chariots and army. Barak chased them all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. All of Sisera’s troops were killed by swords. Not even one was left. 17 But Sisera ran away on foot. He ran to the tent of Jael. She was the wife of Heber, the Kenite. Sisera ran there because there was a treaty between Heber’s family and Jabin, the king of Hazor. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera. ‘Come in, sir,’ she said. ‘Come right in. Don’t be afraid.’ So he entered her tent. Then she covered him with a blanket. 19 ‘I’m thirsty,’ he said. ‘Please give me some water.’ So Jael opened a bottle of milk. The bottle was made out of animal skin. She gave him a drink of milk. Then she covered him up again. 20 ‘Stand in the doorway of the tent,’ he told her. ‘Someone might come by and ask you, “Is anyone in there?” If that happens, say “No”. ’ 21 But Heber’s wife Jael picked up a tent stake and a hammer. She went quietly over to Sisera. He was lying there, fast asleep. He was very tired. She drove the stake through his head right into the ground. So he died. 22 Just then Barak came by because he was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him. ‘Come right in,’ she said. ‘I’ll show you the man you are looking for.’ So he went in with her. Sisera was lying there with the stake through his head. He was dead. 23 On that day God brought Jabin under Israel’s control. He was a king in Canaan. 24 Israel’s power grew stronger and stronger against King Jabin. The Israelites became so strong that they destroyed him.

English Standard Version

Deborah and Barak

1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. 17 But Sisera fled away on foot 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 came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. 23 So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Richter 4,16 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Deborah

Deborah and Barak