Deborah and Barak
Judges 4, verse 1. The sons of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord, and Ehud was dead, Judges 4, verse 2. so the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. Judges 4, verse 3. And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots with him, and for twenty years he oppressed Israel with his power. Judges 4, verse 4. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time. Judges 4, verse 5. And Deborah would sit under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel came up to her for justice. Judges 4, verse 6. Then Deborah sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun. Judges 4, verse 7. and I will bring to you, at the brook of Kishon, the captain of the army of Jabin, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver them into your hands’?” Judges 4, verse 8. And Barak said to her, “If you go with me, then I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will remain here, for I am unable to discern the day when the Angel of the Lord will help me.” Judges 4, verse 9. She said, “Certainly I will go with you; but know this: there will be no honor gained by you on the journey you are undertaking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak from Kedesh. Judges 4, verse 10. Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali from Kedesh, and went from there with ten thousand men following him. Deborah went up with him. Judges 4, verse 11. Now Heber the Kenite, of the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, moved away from the Kenites and pitched his tent upon arriving at the oak tree of coveting, which is near Kedesh. Judges 4, verse 12. And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. Judges 4, verse 13. So Sisera called all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the brook of Kishon. Judges 4, verse 14. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Rise up. For this is the day the Lord will deliver Sisera into your hand, because the Lord has gone out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. Judges 4, verse 15. And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. Judges 4, verse 16. But Barak pursued the chariots behind the camp as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles, and the whole camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. Judges 4, verse 17. But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, his friend; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Judges 4, verse 18. And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her, entering into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. Judges 4, verse 19. Then Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. Judges 4, verse 20. And Sisera said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes to you and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there a man here?’ you shall say, ‘There is not.’” Judges 4, verse 21. Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and went quietly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground. He was asleep, lost consciousness, and died. Judges 4, verse 22. And then as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went in with her, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. Judges 4, verse 23. So on that day God routed Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. Judges 4, verse 24. And the hand of the sons of Israel proceeded and hardened against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had utterly destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.