Judges 4

³O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

²³And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,

²⁴then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

¹²Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

⁶And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.

⁴³Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress.

⁷So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

¹³he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.

¹Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph;

¹⁶Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

⁹But they forgot the Lord their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

⁷So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites,

¹⁹The Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed them and subdued them under their hand.

⁹But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.

⁸When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.

¹⁶So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

³⁶There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,

²⁸And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

²⁹Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

⁵And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.

¹⁹Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

¹Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

⁸If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the Lord your God will choose.

⁹You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

²It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.

²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

¹⁸Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

³²And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

³²The sixth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Naphtali:

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

⁶Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

¹⁰who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.

¹⁰This is what the Lord God says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.

¹¹You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—

⁴⁰Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.

²¹The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength!

¹¹Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O Lord.

¹²Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.

⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So this is what the Israelites did.

¹⁰“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”

¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

³⁰But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?”

³⁰Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the Lord declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

²⁴Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

⁵⁴He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

²¹That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

²²Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

¹⁷Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁸Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.

¹⁵The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

²⁷Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

⁸And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.” And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence.

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

⁶She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the Lord, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.

²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

³³Their border started at Heleph and the great tree of Zaanannim, passing Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum and ending at the Jordan.

¹⁶Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

¹Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁶She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the Lord, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.

¹²North and south You created; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.

³⁴Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and ran from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun on the south side, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east.

¹²From Sarid it turned eastward along the border of Chisloth-tabor and went on to Daberath and up to Japhia.

¹⁸As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

⁶She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the Lord, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.

²So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.

³Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

⁷And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”

²⁴As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the Lord has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

³But understand that today the Lord your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the Lord has promised you.

¹²For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the Lord goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.

⁷O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wasteland, Selah

⁸the earth shook and the heavens poured down rain before God, the One on Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

¹³One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord as their leader.

⁴They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

¹⁰And the Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

¹⁰who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.

¹⁵and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. And when they raised the cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶So the Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.

³²And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

²⁰From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera.

²¹The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength!

⁶For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”

¹²All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

¹³For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁷You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.

⁸Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

¹⁷who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

¹⁹But you, do not stop there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Do not let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.”

²⁰So Joshua and the Israelites continued to inflict a terrible slaughter until they had finished them off, and the remaining survivors retreated to the fortified cities.

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

²¹“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

³⁵I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

³⁶yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

²²May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.

²⁰He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

⁷His vigorous stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.

⁸For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.

²⁴Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

¹⁹And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

²⁶She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

⁴³Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’

¹⁰So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

³So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

²⁰When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They have crossed over the brook,” she replied. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

⁷Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

²⁶She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷At her feet he collapsed, he fell, there he lay still; at her feet he collapsed, he fell; where he collapsed, there he fell dead.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

²¹And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

³and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.”

¹⁰Then even the most valiant soldier with the heart of a lion will melt with fear, because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man who has valiant men with him.

¹¹Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.

⁴⁷the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,

²⁴So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.

³⁹You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.

¹⁸“Is not the Lord your God with you, and has He not granted you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people.

²⁸And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.

³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end.