Judges 4

New International Version

Deborah

4 Again the Israelites did evil^(A) in the eyes of the Lord,^(B) now that Ehud^(C) was dead. ²So the Lord sold them^(D) into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.^(E) Sisera,^(F) the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron^(G) and had cruelly oppressed^(H) the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

⁴Now Deborah,^(I) a prophet,^(J) the wife of Lappidoth, was leading^[a] Israel at that time. ⁵She held court^(K) under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah^(L) and Bethel^(M) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. ⁶She sent for Barak son of Abinoam^(N) from Kedesh^(O) in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali^(P) and Zebulun^(Q) and lead them up to Mount Tabor.^(R) ⁷I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s^(S) army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River^(T) and give him into your hands.^(U)’”

⁸Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

⁹“Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.^(V) ¹⁰There Barak summoned^(W) Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites,^(X) the descendants of Hobab,^(Y) Moses’ brother-in-law,^[b] and pitched his tent by the great tree^(Z) in Zaanannim^(AA) near Kedesh.

¹²When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,^(AB) ¹³Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River^(AC) all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.^(AD)

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.^(AE) Has not the Lord gone ahead^(AF) of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. ¹⁵At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed^(AG) Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

¹⁶Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.^(AH) ¹⁷Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,^(AI) the wife of Heber the Kenite,^(AJ) because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor^(AK) and the family of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael^(AL) went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹“I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,^(AM) gave him a drink, and covered him up.

²⁰“Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

²¹But Jael,^(AN) Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,^(AO) exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.^(AP)

²²Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael^(AQ) went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.^(AR)

²³On that day God subdued^(AS) Jabin^(AT) king of Canaan before the Israelites. ²⁴And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.^(AU)

Footnotes

Judges 4:4 Traditionally judging
Judges 4:11 Or father-in-law

Jeremiah 17

New International Version

17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(A)
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts^(B)
    and on the horns^(C) of their altars.
²Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles^[a]^(D)
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.^(E)
³My mountain in the land
    and your^[b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,^(F)
    together with your high places,^(G)
    because of sin throughout your country.^(H)
⁴Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance^(I) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies^(J)
    in a land^(K) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn^(L) forever.”

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(M)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(N)
⁶That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(O) of the desert,
    in a salt^(P) land where no one lives.

⁷“But blessed^(Q) is the one who trusts^(R) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(S)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(T)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(U)

⁹The heart^(V) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart^(W)
and examine the mind,^(X)
to reward^(Y) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”^(Z)

¹¹Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(AA)

¹²A glorious throne,^(AB) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³Lord, you are the hope^(AC) of Israel;
    all who forsake^(AD) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(AE)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.^(AF)

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;^(AG)
    save^(AH) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.^(AI)
¹⁵They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”^(AJ)
¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips^(AK) is open before you.
¹⁷Do not be a terror^(AL) to me;
    you are my refuge^(AM) in the day of disaster.^(AN)
¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.^(AO)

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,^[c] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.^(AP) ²⁰Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem^(AQ) who come through these gates.^(AR) ²¹This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath^(AS) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. ²²Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.^(AT) ²³Yet they did not listen or pay attention;^(AU) they were stiff-necked^(AV) and would not listen or respond to discipline.^(AW) ²⁴But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy^(AX) by not doing any work on it, ²⁵then kings who sit on David’s throne^(AY) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.^(AZ) ²⁶People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,^(BA) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷But if you do not obey^(BB) me to keep the Sabbath^(BC) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire^(BD) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”^(BE)