Judges 4:1–24
Deborah and Barak
The
Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud had
died. So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned
in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the
Nations. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had 900 iron
chariots, and he harshly oppressed them 20 years.
Deborah, a
woman who was a prophet and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that
time. It was her custom to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and
Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her for
judgment.
She
summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t
the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded [you]: ‘Go, deploy [the troops] on Mount
Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites and Zebulunites? Then
I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s forces, his chariots, and his army at
the Wadi Kishon [to fight] against you, and I will hand him over to you. ‘
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.”
“I will go
with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about
to take, because the LORD will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.”
So Deborah
got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to
Kedesh; 10,000 men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
Now Heber
the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, Moses’
father-in-law, and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim, which was
near Kedesh.
It was
reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. Sisera
summoned all his 900 iron chariots and all the people who were with him from
Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Move
on, for this is the day the LORD has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the LORD
gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following
him.
The LORD
threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into confusion with the
sword before Barak. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. Barak pursued the
chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of
Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
Meanwhile,
Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the
Kenite. Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come
in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him
with a rug. He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am
thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him
[again]. Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man
comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’ “ While he was sleeping
from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went
silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and
drove it into the ground, and he died.
When Barak
arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come
and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and
there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!
That day
God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. The power of the Israelites
continued to increase against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.
(HCS)
This reading is taken from 30
Scripture Readings on Great Women from the Bible. The complete book can be
found here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZK5H96/ref=nosim?tag=hudsonbcom-20&linkCode=sb1&camp=212353&creative=380549
Holman Christian Standard Bible (R), Copyright (c) 1999,
2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman
Christian Standard Bible (R), Holman CSB (R), and HCSB (R) are federally
registered trademarks of Homan Bible Publishers.
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