1 And the children
of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud
was dead.
2 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 Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 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.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged
Israel at that time.
5 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.
6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam 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?
7 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.
8 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.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding
the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour;
for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And
Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 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.
11 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 unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by
Kedesh.
12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was
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 unto the river of Kishon.
14 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.
15 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.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host,
unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell
upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and
it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and
say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 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.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet
him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom
thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera
lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before
the children of Israel.
24 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.
Chapter 5
1 Then sang Deborah
and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people
willingly offered themselves.
3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will
sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out
of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
the clouds also dropped water.
5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai
from before the LORD God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael,
the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through
byways.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel,
until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; 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 ye the LORD.
10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment,
and walk by the way.
11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the
places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous
acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants
of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD
go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise,
Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles
among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after
thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors,
and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar,
and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the
divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings
of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great
searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships?
Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives
unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan
in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought
against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river,
the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings,
the pransings of their mighty ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly
the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of
the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite
be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth
butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's
hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off
his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he
bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through
the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry
the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to
herself,
30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every
man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey
of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework
on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that
love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And
the land had rest forty years.
Chapter 6
1 And the children
of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered
them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because
of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens
which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came
up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they
came up against them;
4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase
of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance
for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they
came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their
camels were without number: and they entered into the land to
destroy it.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites;
and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto
the LORD because of the Midianites,
8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel,
which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God 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 drave them out
from before you, and gave you their land;
10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not
obeyed my voice.
11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak
which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite:
and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide
it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto
him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with
us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles
which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring
us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites.
14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might,
and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites:
have not I sent thee?
15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save
Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the
least in my father's house.
16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and
thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight,
then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and
bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said,
I will tarry until thou come again.
19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened
cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and
he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under
the oak, and presented it.
20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the
unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out
the broth. And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff
that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened
cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed
the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD
departed out of his sight.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD,
Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel
of the LORD face to face.
23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not:
thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called
it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the
Abi-ezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto
him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock
of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy
father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of
this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock,
and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which
thou shalt cut down.
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the
LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his
father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not
do it by day, that he did it by night.
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut
down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon
the altar that was built.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And
when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash
hath done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son,
that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal,
and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead
for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let
him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god,
let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let
Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children
of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched
in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew
a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also
was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and
unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine
hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if
the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth
beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine
hand, as thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust
the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece,
a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against
me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee,
but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the
fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece
only, and there was dew on all the ground. |