CHAPTER 4
1 And the sons of Israel added to do evil in the sight of the Lord, after the death of Ehud.
2 And the Lord betook them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; and he had a duke of his host, Sisera by name; and he dwelled in Harosheth of heathen men.
3 And the sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, sharp as scythes, and twenty years he oppressed Israel greatly.
4 And Deborah was a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, the which Deborah deemed the people of Israel in that time;
5 and she sat under a palm tree, that was called by her name, betwixt Ramah and Bethel, in the hill of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went up to her at each doom.
6 And she sent, and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, of Kedesh of Naphtali, and she said to him, The Lord God of Israel commanded to thee, Go thou, and lead an host into the hill of Tabor, and thou shalt take with thee ten thousand of fighters of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun.
7 And I shall bring to thee, in the place of the strand [or stream] of Kishon, Sisera, the prince of Jabin’s host, and his chariots, and all the multitude; and I shall betake them in thine hand.
8 And Barak said to her, If thou comest with me, I shall go; if thou wilt not come with me, I shall not go.
9 And she said to him, Soothly I shall go with thee; but in this time the victory shall not be areckoned to thee; for Sisera shall be betaken into the hand of a woman. And so Deborah rose, and went with Barak into Kedesh.
10 And when Zebulun and Naphtali were called, Barak ascended [or went up] with ten thousand of fighters, and had Deborah in his fellowship.
11 Forsooth Heber of Kenites had parted some time from other Kenites his brethren, [the] sons of Hobab, the father of Moses’ wife; and he had set forth tabernacles till to the valley, which is called Zaanaim, and was beside Kedesh.
12 And it was told to Sisera, that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up into the hill of Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, carving as scythes, and all the host, from Harosheth of heathen men to the strand [or stream] of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said to Barak, Rise thou up, for this is the day, in which the Lord hath betaken Sisera into thine hands; lo! the Lord is thy leader. And so Barak came down from the hill of Tabor, and ten thousand of fighters with him.
15 And the Lord made afeared Sisera, and all his chariots, and all the multitude, by the sharpness of sword, at the sight of Barak, in so much that Sisera leaped down off the chariot, and fled on foot.
16 And Barak pursued the chariots fleeing, and the host, till to Harosheth of heathen men; and all the multitude of [the] enemies felled down till to death.
17 And Sisera fled, and came to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for peace was betwixt Jabin, king of Hazor, and betwixt the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 Therefore Jael went out into the coming of Sisera, and said to him, My lord, enter thou to me, enter thou to me; dread thou not. And he entered into her tabernacle, and he was covered of her with a mantle.
19 And he said to her, I beseech thee, give me a little water, for I thirst greatly. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave to him to drink, and covered him.
20 And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tabernacle, and when any man cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Whether any man is here? thou shalt answer, No man is here.
21 And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a nail of the tabernacle, and she took also an hammer; and she entered privily, and with silence she put the nail upon the temple of his head, and she fastened the nail smitten with the hammer into his brain, unto the earth; and he slept, and died together, and he failed life, and was dead.
22 And lo! Barak pursued [or followed] Sisera, and came; and Jael went out into his coming, and said to him, Come, and I shall show to thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he had entered to her, he saw Sisera lying dead, and a nail fastened into his temples.
23 Therefore in that day, God made low Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel;
24 which increased each day, and with strong hand they oppressed Jabin, the king of Canaan, till they did him away.