 1 The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead. 2 The Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan who ruled in Hazor. The captain of his host was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the nations. 3 The children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for he had 900 chariots of iron. He mightily oppressed the children of Israel 20 years. 4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time. 5 She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim. The children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She called for Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 I will draw Sisera to you, the captain of Jabin's army, at the river Kishon, together with his chariots and his multitude. And I will deliver him to you. 8 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 She said, I will surely go with you. But the journey that you take will not be for your honor, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. He went with 10,000 men at his feet. And Deborah went with him. 11 Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent toward the plain of Zaanaim, near Kedesh. 12 They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera gathered all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the people with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon. 14 Deborah said to Barak, Up. For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera to you. Has not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and 10,000 men after him. 15 The Lord struck Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the army, with the edge of the sword in front of Barak, so that Sisera got down from the chariot and fled on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and after the army to Harosheth of the Gentiles. Then all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. There was not a man left. 17 Sisera fled on his feet to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. For there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in my lord, turn in to me. Do not fear. When he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a rug. 19 He said to her, Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent and when anyone comes asking of you saying, Is there anyone here? Say, No. 21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a peg of the tent and put a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the peg into his temple and beat it into the ground. For he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 Behold, as Barak followed Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, Come and I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg was in his temple. 23 On that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 The hand of the children of Israel went on, and pressed hard against King Jabin of Canaan, until they had destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.
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