Judges 4

Wycliffe Bible

4 And the sons of Israel added to do evil in the sight of the Lord, after the death of Ehud. (And the Israelites did more evil before the Lord, after the death of Ehud.)

² And the Lord betook them into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; and he had a duke of his host, Sisera by name; and he dwelled in Harosheth of heathen men. (And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and he had a leader of his army, who was named Sisera; and he lived in Harosheth of the heathen.)

³ And the sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, sharp as scythes, and twenty years he oppressed Israel greatly. (And the Israelites cried to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, sharp as scythes, and for twenty years he greatly oppressed Israel.)

⁴ And Deborah was a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, the which Deborah deemed the people of Israel in that time;

⁵ and she sat under a palm tree, that was called by her name, betwixt Ramah and Bethel, in the hill of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went up to her at each doom. (and she sat under a palm tree, that was named after her, between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went up to her for judgements.)

⁶ And she sent, and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, of Kedesh of Naphtali, and she said to him, The Lord God of Israel commanded to thee, (and said,) Go thou, and lead an host into the hill of Tabor, and thou shalt take with thee ten thousand of fighters of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun. (And she sent, and called for Barak, the son of Abinoam, of Kedesh of Naphtali, and she said to him, The Lord God of Israel commanded to thee, and said, Go thou, and lead an army to Mount Tabor, and thou shalt take with thee ten thousand fighting men of the Naphtalites and of the Zebulunites.)

⁷ And I shall bring to thee, in the place of the strand of Kishon, Sisera, the prince of Jabin’s host, and his chariots, and all the multitude; and I shall betake them in thine hand. (And I shall bring to thee, at the Kishon River, Sisera, the leader of Jabin’s army, and his chariots, and all the multitude; and I shall deliver them into thy hands.)

⁸ And Barak said to her, If thou comest with me, I shall go; if thou wilt not come with me, I shall not go.

⁹ And she said to him, Soothly I shall go with thee; but in this time the victory shall not be areckoned to thee; for Sisera shall be betaken into the hand of a woman (for Sisera shall be delivered into the hand of a woman). And so Deborah rose, and went with Barak into Kedesh.

¹⁰ And when Zebulun and Naphtali were called, Barak ascended with ten thousand of fighters (Barak went up with ten thousand fighting men), and had Deborah in his fellowship.

¹¹ Forsooth Heber of (the) Kenites had parted (company) some time (ago) from other Kenites his brethren, [the] sons of Hobab, the father of Moses’ wife; and he had set forth tabernacles till to the valley, which is called Zaanaim, and was beside Kedesh (and he pitched his tent in the Zaanaim Valley, which was beside Kedesh).

¹² And it was told to Sisera, that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up into the hill of Tabor. (And Sisera was told that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor.)

¹³ And Sisera gathered nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, carving as scythes, and all the host, from Harosheth of heathen men to the strand of Kishon. (And Sisera gathered his nine hundred iron chariots, full of weapons, sharp as scythes, and all his army, from Harosheth of the heathen unto the Kishon River.)

¹⁴ And Deborah said to Barak, Rise thou up, for this is the day, in which the Lord hath betaken Sisera into thine hands; lo! the Lord is thy leader. And so Barak came down from the hill of Tabor, and ten thousand of fighters with him (And so Barak came down from Mount Tabor, and had ten thousand fighting men with him).

¹⁵ And the Lord made afeared Sisera, and all his chariots, and all the multitude, by the sharpness of sword, at the sight of Barak, in so much that Sisera leaped down off the chariot, and fled on foot. (And when they saw Barak, and all of his sharp swords, the Lord made Sisera, and all those in his chariots, and all those in his multitude, greatly afraid, in so much that Sisera leapt down off the chariot, and fled away on foot.)

¹⁶ And Barak pursued the chariots fleeing, and the host, till to Harosheth of heathen men (And Barak pursued the fleeing chariots, and the army, unto Harosheth of the heathen); and all the multitude of [the] enemies felled down till to death.

¹⁷ And Sisera fled, and came to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber (the) Kenite; for peace was betwixt Jabin, king of Hazor, and betwixt the house of Heber (the) Kenite (for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite).

¹⁸ Therefore Jael went out into the coming of Sisera, and said to him, My lord, enter thou to me, enter thou to me; dread thou not. And he entered into her tabernacle, and he was covered of her with a mantle (And he went into her tent, and she covered him with a cloak).

¹⁹ And he said to her, I beseech thee, give me a little water, for I thirst greatly (for I have a great thirst). And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave (it) to him to drink, and (then she) covered him (up again).

²⁰ And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tabernacle, and when any man cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Whether any man is here? thou shalt answer, No man is here. (And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tent, and if anyone cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Is there anyone here? thou shalt answer, No one is here.)

²¹ And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a nail of the tabernacle, and she took also an hammer; and she entered privily, and with silence she put the nail upon the temple of his head, and she fastened the nail smitten with the hammer into his brain, unto the earth; and he slept, and died together, and he failed life, and was dead. (And then Jael, Heber’s wife, got a tent peg, and she also got a hammer; and she quietly entered, and silently put the peg on the temple of his head, and struck it with the hammer into his brain, and she fastened the other end of the peg into the ground; and so he died in his sleep, yea, his life failed, and he died.)

²² And lo! Barak (had) followed Sisera, and came (up to the tent); and Jael went out into his coming, and said to him, Come, and I shall show to thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he had entered to her, he saw Sisera lying dead, and a nail fastened into his temples (and a tent peg fastened into his temple).

²³ Therefore in that day (And so on that day), God made low Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel;

²⁴ which increased each day, and with strong hand they oppressed Jabin, the king of Canaan, till they did him away.