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Judges 4
And the children of Israel again did that which was veil in the sight of Yahweh, when Ehud was dead. 2 And Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried to Yahweh: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in hill-country of 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 Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Has not Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw to mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw to you, to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand. 8 And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then 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: however, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah rose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.
12 And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had 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, to the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, Rise up; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand: is not Yahweh gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And Yahweh routed Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera abandoned his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell on the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17 However 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 to him, Turn in, Sir, turn in to me; fear not. And he had turned in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, Give me, I pray you, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of you, and says, Is there any man here? That you shall say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; So he fainted and died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man who you seek. And he came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.
23 So Elohim subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
Judges 5
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
3 Hear, O you kings; give ear, O you princes;
I, even I, will sing to Yahweh;
I will sing praise to Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel.
4 Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir,
When you marched out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
The clouds also dropped water.
5 The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh,
Even Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,
And the travelers walked through byways.
7 The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new elohim;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
That offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless you Yahweh.
10 Tell of it, you that ride on white asses,
You that sit on rich carpets, and you that walk by the way.
11 Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they recite the righteous acts of Yahweh,
Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel,
Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead your captives, you son of Abinoam.
13 Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people;
Yahweh came down for me against the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek;
After you, Benjamin, among your peoples;
Out of Machir came down governors,
And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal’s staff.
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben.
There was much searching of heart.
16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
At the watercourse of Reuben
There were great searching of heart.
17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan:
And Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the seashore,
And remained by its bays.
18 Zebulun was a people that risked their lives to the death.
And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought,
Then the kings of Canaan fought,
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:
They took no gain of money.
20 From heaven the stars fought,
From their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away,
That ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength!
22 Then were the horsehoofs stamped
Because of the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.
23 Curse Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh,
Curse bitterly the inhabitants of it;
Because they came not to help Yahweh,
To help Yahweh against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael be,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a noble dish.
26 She put her hand to the tent-pin.
And her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;
And with the hammer she struck Sisera, she crushed his head;
She had pierced and struck through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
At her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice,
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why are the steps of his chariots delayed?
29 Her wise ladies answered her,
Indeed, she returned answer to herself.
30 Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera a plunder of dyed garments,
A plunder of dyed garments embroidered,
Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?
31 So let all your enemies perish, O Yahweh:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might.
And the land had rest forty years.
Judges 6
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and strongholds. 3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, all the way to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents; and they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian, 8 That Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, In this manner says Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; 10 And I said to you, I am Yahweh your Elohim; you shall not fear the elohim of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice.
11 And the angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine-press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor. 13 And Gideon said to him, Oh my sovereign, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hands of Midian. 14 And Yahweh looked on him, and said, Go in your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent you? 15 And he said to him, Oh, my sovereign, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And Yahweh said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. 17 And he said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talks with me. 18 Depart not from here, I pray you, until I come to you, and bring forth my present, and lay it before you. And he said, I will wait until you come again.
19 And Gideon went in, and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of Elohim said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of Yahweh put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; And the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight. 22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of Yahweh, and Gideon said, Alas, O sovereign Yahweh! For I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face. 23 And Yahweh said to him, Peace be to you; fear not: you shall not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh-Shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Take your father’s bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; 26 And build an altar to Yahweh your Elohim on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it came to pass, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, so he did it by night.
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that had been built. 29 And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it. 31 And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He that will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he is an elohim, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar. 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36 And Gideon said to Elohim, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the thrashing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken. 38 And it was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 And Gideon said unto Elohim, Let not your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew. 40 And Elohim did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
