UST JDG Chapter 4

◄ JDG 4 ► ║ ═ ©

4 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did things that Yahweh had said were very wicked. 2 A strong king whose name was Jabin ruled the city of Hazor and many other parts of the region of Canaan. Yahweh allowed Jabin to conquer the Israelites with his army because they had disobeyed him. The commander of Jabin’s army was a man whose name was Sisera. He lived in a place that people called Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Sisera’s army had 900 chariots that had iron parts. He cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. Then they pleaded with Yahweh to help them.

4 At that time, a woman whose name was Deborah was a leader of the people of Israel. She was a prophetess. Her husband’s name was Lappidoth. 5 She would sit under her palm tree (which people called Deborah’s Palm Tree) at a place between Ramah and Bethel in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived. The Israelites would come to her and ask her to help them settle their disputes. 6 One day she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam. She called him to come to her. He was from Kedesh, in the area where the descendants of Naphtali lived. She told him, “Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, is commanding you to do something. He is telling you to gather an army of at least 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. Have this army assemble at Mount Tabor. 7 Yahweh will make Sisera, the commander of King Jabin's army, bring his chariots and his army to the Kishon River a few miles away from you. Yahweh will enable your men to defeat them there.”

8 Barak told her, “I will only go if you go with me. If you do not go with me, then I will not go.”

9 She replied, “I will certainly go with you. But because you would not go without me, Yahweh will enable a woman to defeat Sisera. The result will be that no one will honor you for doing that.” So Deborah left her home and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak called for the men of Zebulun and Naphtali to assemble at Kedesh. With Barak as their commander, 10,000 men came there. Deborah accompanied this army.

11 Now there was a man whose name was Heber who belonged to the Kenite people group. (He was a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law Hobab.) He had moved away from the rest of the Kenites. He was living at this time near the big oak tree at Zaanannim, near Kedesh.

12 People told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had assembled an army on Mount Tabor. 13 When Sisera heard that, he gathered all his troops. They brought all 900 of the chariots that had iron parts, and they marched from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River to attack Barak and his army.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “It is time to attack! Today Yahweh is going to enable your army to defeat the army of Sisera. Yahweh is already fighting against Sisera for you.” So Barak led his thousands of troops down the slopes of Mount Tabor to fight with Sisera. 15 As Barak and his troops advanced, Yahweh caused Sisera and all his chariots and his army to become disorganized. The Israelites were killing so many of his soldiers that Sisera jumped down from his chariot and ran away. 16 But Barak and his soldiers chased after the other chariots and enemy soldiers all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. They killed all of the soldiers in Sisera’s army. None of them got away.

17 But Sisera ran away to the place where Heber the Kenite was staying. He went up to the tent where Heber’s wife Jael lived. He did that because Heber and his family were good friends of Sisera’s master Jabin, the king of the city of Hazor, so he thought Jael would hide him.

18 Jael went out to greet Sisera. She said to him, “Sir, please come into my tent. You do not have to be afraid.” So he went into her tent and lay down, and she covered him with a blanket to hide him.

19 He said to her, “I am thirsty, so would you please give me some water?” So she opened a leather container of milk, and she gave him a drink. Then she covered him with the blanket again.

20 He told her, “Stand near the door of the tent to meet anyone who arrives. If someone who is looking for me comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone else here?’ say ‘No.’ ”

21 Sisera was very exhausted, so he soon fell asleep. While he was sleeping, Jael picked up a hammer and a tent peg and crept quietly over to him. Suddenly she pounded the peg into his skull. She hammered it all the way through his head until it stuck into the ground. This killed Sisera.

22 Meanwhile, Barak was looking for Sisera. When he got to Jael’s tent, she went out to greet him. She told him, “The man you are looking for is in here!” So he followed her into the tent, and there he saw Sisera lying dead with the tent peg through his head.

23 And that was how God enabled the Israelites that day to defeat the army of Jabin, one of the kings of the Canaanites. 24 The Israelites had become stronger and stronger, and finally they completely defeated the army of Jabin, that Canaanite king.

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