Then the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah after Ehud died.

And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. And the captain of his army was Sisera, who dwelt at Harosheth-hagoyim.

And the children of Israel cried out to Jehovah, for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the children of Israel severely twenty years.

Now  ¹Deborah was a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth. She judged Israel at that time.

And she would sit under the palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went up to her for judgment.

And she sent word and called to Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, Jehovah the God of Israel has indeed commanded: Go and deploy your forces on Mount Tabor; and take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and from the children of Zebulun.

And I will draw out Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his throng, toward you at the river Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand.

And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.

And she said, I will surely go with you. However there will be no glory for you on the journey you are taking, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah rose up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And he pitched his tent at the terebinth in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam went up to Mount Tabor.

And Sisera called all his chariots — nine hundred iron chariots — and all the people who were with him from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.

And Deborah said to Barak, Rise up, for this is the day when Jehovah will deliver Sisera into your hand. Jehovah has indeed gone out before you. So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men after him.

And Jehovah threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into confusion with the edge of the sword before Barak, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

But Barak pursued after the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim. And all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.

Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there had been peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

And Jael went out to meet Sisera; and she said to him, Turn here, my lord; turn here to me; do not be afraid. So he turned to her into her tent, and she covered him with a rug.

And he said to her, Give me please a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him.

And he said to her, Stand at the entrance of the tent; and if anyone comes and asks you, saying, Is there a man here? you shall say, No.

Then Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand and went quietly to him. And she drove the peg into his temple, and it pierced through to the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. And he died.

And Barak was at that moment pursuing Sisera when Jael came out to meet him. And she said to him, Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking. And he went with her; and there was Sisera, fallen dead with the peg in his temple.

So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

And the hand of the children of Israel became heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan until they destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.

Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
That the people have willingly offered themselves,
Bless Jehovah.

Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes!
I will sing; I, to Jehovah.
I will sing praise to Jehovah
The God of Israel.

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dripped,
Indeed the clouds dripped water.

The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Sinai there, at the presence of Jehovah the God of Israel.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were not used;
And travelers went
On the roundabout paths.

The villages ceased to act;
They ceased in Israel;
Until  ¹I, Deborah, rose up;
Until I rose up as a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods;
Then there was war in their gates.
Was a shield or a spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is with the commanders of Israel,
Those who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless Jehovah!

Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who go upon the way.

Louder than the voice of those who distribute water among the watering
places,
There they recount the righteous deeds of Jehovah,
His righteous acts toward His villages in Israel.
Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

Awake! Awake, Deborah!
Awake! Awake, speak forth a song!
Arise, Barak;
And lead captive your captives, son of Abinoam.

Then a remnant of the nobles went down;
The people of Jehovah went down with me against the mighty:

From Ephraim, those who took root in Amalek;
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wielded the staff of him who marshals.

And the princes in Issachar were with Deborah;
And Issachar was true to Barak;
Into the valley they were sent behind him.
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolutions in heart.

Why did you sit among the sheepfolds
Listening to the pipings for the flocks?
In the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.

Gilead stayed across the Jordan.
And as for Dan, why did he remain with the ships?
Asher sat at the shore of the sea
And stayed at his landings.

Zebulun was a people that despised their own lives even unto death;
And Naphtali, on the heights of the field.

The kings came; they fought.
At that time the kings of Canaan fought
In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;
They took no gain of silver.

From heaven the stars fought;
From their courses they fought with Sisera.

The river Kishon swept them away,
The ancient river, the river Kishon.
March on, O my soul, with strength!

At that time the horse hooves stamped
With the prancing, the prancing of their mighty steeds.

Curse Meroz, says the Angel of Jehovah;
Bitterly curse its inhabitants.
For they did not come to the aid of Jehovah,
To the aid of Jehovah against the mighty.

Blessed among women shall Jael be,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed among the women in the tent shall she be.

He asked for water; she gave him milk.
In a bowl for nobles she presented him with cream.

She put her hand to the tent peg,
And her right hand to the workman's hammer;
Then she struck Sisera; she smashed his head;
Indeed she shattered and pierced his temples.

At her feet he bowed; he fell; he lay down.
At her feet he bowed; he fell.
Where he bowed, there he fell, destroyed.

Through the window one looks forth and cries shrilly;
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice:
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why do the tracks of his chariots delay?

The wisest of her ladies answer her,
And she herself returns an answer to herself:

Have they not found and divided the spoil?
A girl, two girls, to  ¹each mighty man.
The spoil of dyed garments to Sisera,
The spoil of embroidered, dyed garments;
A dyed embroidery, two embroideries,
For the neck of the spoiler.

May all Your enemies so perish, O Jehovah.
But may those who love Him be like the sun
When it rises in its might.
And the land had rest forty years.

Then the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains as well as the caves and the strongholds.

And whenever Israel sowed its seed, Midian rose up with Amalek and the children of the east, and went up against them.

And they encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land until you come to Gaza, and they left no sustenance in Israel, or sheep or ox or donkey.

For they went up with their cattle and their tents and came in like a locust swarm in number; both they and their camels were without number. And they came into the land to destroy it.

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian. And the children of Israel cried out to Jehovah.

And when the children of Israel cried out to Jehovah because of Midian,

Jehovah sent a man who was a prophet to the children of Israel. And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, It was I who brought you up out of Egypt and brought you out from the slave house;

And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you. And I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

And I said to you, I am Jehovah your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you did not listen to My voice.

And the  ¹Angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while Gideon his son was beating out the wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him and said to him, Jehovah is with you, valiant warrior.

And Gideon said to Him, Please, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds that our fathers recount to us, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up out of Egypt? But now Jehovah has abandoned us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.

Then  ¹Jehovah turned to him and said, Go in this strength of yours, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Indeed I have sent you.

And he said to Him, Please, Lord, by what way can I save Israel? My clan here is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And Jehovah said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you will strike the Midianites as one man.

And he said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your sight, perform a sign for me that it is You who are speaking with me.

Do not depart from here until I come to You and bring my present and set it before You. And He said, I will remain until you return.

So Gideon went and prepared a kid and an ephah of flour in unleavened cakes. He put the flesh in a basket and put the broth in a pot, and he brought it out to Him under the terebinth. And he presented it.

And the  ¹Angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock; and pour out the broth. And he did so.

And the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And fire came up from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And the Angel of Jehovah went from his sight.

And Gideon saw that He was the Angel of Jehovah. And Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! For I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face.

And Jehovah said to him, Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.

Then Gideon built an altar there to Jehovah, and he called it  ¹Jehovah-shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And that night Jehovah said to him, Take your father's bull, that is, the second bull, seven years old; and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the  ¹Asherah that is beside it.

And build an altar to Jehovah your God upon the top of this stronghold in the ordered manner. Then take that second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.

So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and  ¹did as Jehovah had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father's house and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it at night.

And when the men of the city rose up early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, broken down; and the Asherah beside it was cut down. And the second bull had been offered upon the altar that had been built.

And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after they inquired and sought about, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.

And Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death while it is still morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself; for his altar has been broken down.

Therefore on that day he named  ¹Gideon  ²Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, for he has broken down his altar.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east gathered together, and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

And the Spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon; and he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called up behind him.

And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called up behind him. And he sent messengers throughout Asher and Zebulun and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

And Gideon said to God, If indeed You will save Israel through my hand, as You have said,

I am laying here a fleece of wool on the threshing floor: If there is dew on the fleece alone and it is dry on all the ground, I will know that You will save Israel through my hand, as You have said.

And so it happened. When he rose up early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung dew from the fleece, a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, May Your anger not burn against me, but allow me to speak only this one time. Allow me to make this test with the fleece only this one time. Let it be dry on the fleece only, and let there be dew on all the ground.

And God did so that night, so that it was dry on the fleece only and there was dew on all the ground.