12 The report reached Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had come to fight at Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera summoned all his chariots (900 chariots made of iron) and all his troops from Harosheth Haggoyim to come to the Kishon River.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Attack! This is the day Yahweh will hand Sisera over to you. Yahweh will go ahead of you."

So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men behind him. 15 The LORD threw Sisera, all his chariots, and his whole army into a panic in front of Barak's deadly assault. Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth Haggoyim. So Sisera's whole army was killed in combat. Not one man survived.

17 Meanwhile, Sisera fled on foot toward the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Sisera did this because King Jab in of Hazor and Heber's family were on peaceful terms. 18 When Jael came out of her tent, she met Sisera. She told him, "Sir, come in here! Come into my tent. Don't be afraid." So he went into her tent, and she hid him under a tent curtain.

19 Sisera said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink. I'm thirsty." But instead she gave him milk to drink and covered him up again.

20 He said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent. If anyone comes and asks if there has been a man around here, tell them no."

21 When Sisera had fallen sound asleep from exhaustion, Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and walked quietly toward him with a hammer in her hand. She hammered the tent peg through his temples into the ground. So Sisera died.

22 Barak was still pursuing Sisera. When Jael came out of her tent, she met him. She said to him, "Come in! I have something to show you-the man you've been looking for." So Barak went into her tent. He saw Sisera lying there dead with the tent peg through his temples.

23 So on that day, Elohim used the people of Israel to crush the power of King Jabin of Canaan. 24 The Israelites became stronger and stronger until they destroyed him.

Deborah

Deborah led the Israelites as a judge, helping them to win victory over the Canaanites. Her song referred to God as Yahweh Elohim (Judg. 4:6) Yahweh (Judg. 4:9)

The Victory Song of Deborah and Barak 5 1 On that day Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam, sang this song: 2 Praise Yahweh!

Men in Israel vowed to fight, and people volunteered for service.

3 Listen, you kings!

Open your ears, you princes!

I will sing a song to Yahweh.

I will make music to Yahweh Elohim of Israel.

4 O Yahweh, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the country of Edom, the earth quaked, the sky poured, the clouds burst, 5 and the mountains shook in the presence of Yahweh God of Sinai, in the presence of Yahweh Elohim of Israel.

6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, roads were deserted.

Those who traveled took back roads.

7 Villages in Israel were deserted- deserted until I, Deborah, took a stand- took a stand as a mother of Israel.

8 When the people chose new gods, war broke out inside the city gates.

Not a weapon was seen among 40,000 in Israel.

9 My heart goes out to Israel's commanders, to those people who volunteered.

Praise Yahweh!

10 You people who ride on brown donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and who walk on the road-think.

11 Listen to the voices of those singing at the wells.a Over and over again they repeat the victories of Yahweh, the victories for his villages in Israel.

Then Yahweh's people went down to the city gates.

12 Get up! Get up, Deborah!

Get up! Get up and create a song!

Barak, attack! Take your prisoners, son of Abinoam.

13 Then those mighty men who were left came down.

Yahweh's people went into battle for me against the mighty soldiers.

14 Those who had settled in Amalek's country came down from Ephraim.

Benjamin came with its troops after Ephraim.

Commanders from Machir went into battle.

The officers from Zebulun also went.

15 Issachar's commanders were with Deborah.

They were also with Barak, sent into the valley under his command.

Among Reuben's divisions important men had second thoughts.

16 Why did you sit between the saddlebags?

Was it to listen to the shepherds playing their flutes?

Reuben's divisions of important men had second thoughts.

17 Gilead remained east of the Jordan River.

And Dan . . . Why did he stay by the ships?

Asher sat on the seashore and remained along the inlets.

18 But Zebulun mocked death, and Naphtali risked his life on the battlefield.

19 Kings came and fought.

Then the kings of Canaan fought.

They fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.

But they didn't carry off any rich loot.

20 The stars fought from heaven.

They fought against Sisera from their heavenly paths.

21 The Kishon River swept them away- that old river, the Kishon.

I must march on with strength!

22 Then the horses' hoofs pounded.

The mighty war horses galloped on and on.

23 "Curse Meroz!" said the Messenger of Yahweh.

"Bitterly curse those who live there!

They did not come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh and his heroes."

24 Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, should be the most blessed woman, the most blessed woman living in a tent.

25 Sisera asked for water.

She gave him milk.

She offered him buttermilk in a royal bowl.

26 She reached for a tent peg with one hand, for a workman's hammer with the other.

She struck Sisera.

She crushed his head.

She shattered and pierced his temples.

27 He sank.

He fell.

He lay between her feet!

He sank.

He fell between her feet.

Where he sank, he fell dead.

28 Sisera's mother looked through her window and cried as she peered through the lattice.

"Why is his chariot taking so long?

Why don't I hear the clatter of his chariots?"

29 Her wisest servants gave her an answer.

But she kept repeating to herself, 30 "They're really finding and dividing the loot: A girl or two for each soldier, colorful clothes for Sisera, colorful, embroidered clothes, and two pieces of colorful, embroidered cloth for the neck of the looter."

31 May all your enemies die like that, O Yahweh.

But may those who love Yahweh be like the sun when it rises in all its brightness.

So the land had peace for 40 years.

Israel Sins Again 6 1 The people of Israel did what Yahweh considered evil. So Yahweh handed them over to Midian for seven years. 2 Midian's power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds to protect themselves from Midian. 3 Whenever Israel planted crops, Midian, Amalek, and Kedem came and damaged the crops. 4 The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on-not one sheep, cow, or donkey. 5 Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it. 6 So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to Yahweh for help.

7 When the people of Israel cried out to Yahweh for help because of what the Midianites had done to them, 8 Yahweh sent a prophet to them. He said, "This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I brought you out of Egypt.

I took you away from slavery.