Chapter Four And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD
when Ehud was dead.
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in
Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Herosheth of the
Gentiles.
And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, for he had nine hundred chariots of
iron, and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount
Ephraim.
And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinuam out of Kedesh Naphtali,
and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw
toward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali,
and of the children of Zebulun?
And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon, Sisera the captain of Jabin's
army, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thine hand.
And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go, but if thou wilt
not go with me, then I will not go.
And she said, I will surely go with thee, notwithstanding the journey that thou
takest shall not be for thine honor, for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the
hand of a woman.
And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he went up with ten thousand
men at his feet.
And Deborah went up with him.
Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of
Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent under the
plain of Zanaim, which is by Kedesh.
And they showed Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinuim, was gone up to Mount
Tabor.
And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of
iron, and all the people that were with him, from Herosheth of the Gentiles unto
the river of Chisholm.
And Deborah said unto Barak, Up!
For this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand.
Is not the Lord gone out before thee?
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host,
with the edge of the sword before Barak, so that Sisera lighted down off his
chariot, and fled away on his feet.
But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Herosheth of the
Gentiles.
And all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword, and there was not a man
left.
Howbeit 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.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord,
turn in to me, fear not.
And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink,
for I am thirsty.
And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man
doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here?
But thou shalt say, No.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand,
and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it
into the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary.
So he died.
And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto
him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.
And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was
in his temples.
So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
And the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin the
king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.