Judges 4 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Deborah

4 When Ehud was dead, (A)the children of Israel again did (B)evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 So the Lord (C)sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in (D)Hazor. The commander of his army was (E)Sisera, who dwelt in (F)Harosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred (G)chariots of iron, and for twenty years (H)he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 (I)And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Then she sent and called for (J)Barak the son of Abinoam from (K)Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and [a]deploy troops at Mount (L)Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and against you (M)I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the (N)River Kishon; and I will [b]deliver him into your hand’?”

8 And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

9 So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will (O)sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called (P)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men (Q)under[c] his command, and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber (R)the Kenite, of the children of (S)Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, (T)which is beside Kedesh.

12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, [d]“Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. (U)Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was (V)left.

17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of (W)Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a [e]blanket.

19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened (X)a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”

21 Then Jael, Heber’s wife, (Y)took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.

23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 4:6 march
  2. Judges 4:7 Lit. draw
  3. Judges 4:10 Lit. at his feet
  4. Judges 4:14 Arise!
  5. Judges 4:18 rug

Cross references

  1. Judges 4:1 : Judg. 2:19
  2. Judges 4:1 : Judg. 2:11
  3. Judges 4:2 : Judg. 2:14
  4. Judges 4:2 : Josh. 11:1, 10
  5. Judges 4:2 : 1 Sam. 12:9; Ps. 83:9
  6. Judges 4:2 : Judg. 4:13, 16
  7. Judges 4:3 : Deut. 20:1; Judg. 1:19
  8. Judges 4:3 : Ps. 106:42
  9. Judges 4:5 : Gen. 35:8
  10. Judges 4:6 : Heb. 11:32
  11. Judges 4:6 : Josh. 19:37; 21:32
  12. Judges 4:6 : Judg. 8:18
  13. Judges 4:7 : Ex. 14:4
  14. Judges 4:7 : Judg. 5:21; 1 Kin. 18:40; Ps. 83:9, 10
  15. Judges 4:9 : Judg. 2:14
  16. Judges 4:10 : Judg. 5:18
  17. Judges 4:10 : Ex. 11:8; 1 Kin. 20:10
  18. Judges 4:11 : Judg. 1:16
  19. Judges 4:11 : Num. 10:29
  20. Judges 4:11 : Judg. 4:6
  21. Judges 4:14 : Deut. 9:3; 31:3; 2 Sam. 5:24; Ps. 68:7; Is. 52:12
  22. Judges 4:16 : Ex. 14:28; Ps. 83:9
  23. Judges 4:17 : Judg. 5:6
  24. Judges 4:19 : Judg. 5:24–27
  25. Judges 4:21 : Judg. 5:24–27

You Might Also Like:

Judges 4 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

4 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah when Ehud is dead, 2 and Jehovah selleth them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who hath reigned in Hazor, and the head of his host [is] Sisera, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the Goyim; 3 and the sons of Israel cry un...
Read More

Judges 4 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

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 b...
Read More

Judges 4 - World English Bible (WEB)

4 The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, when Ehud was dead. 2 Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for ...
Read More

Judges 4 - The Voice (VOICE)

God takes what is different about Ehud and makes it a strength. This is God’s habit throughout the Old Testament—making unlikely heroes into agents of His deliverance from the enemies of Israel. Earlier God used Moses, an infant marked for death, to liberate His people from Egypt. Soon God will use ...
Read More

Judges 4 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Deborah, Barak and Yael4 But Bnei-Yisrael again did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes after Ehud had died. 2 So Adonai sold them over into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. His army commander was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goyim[a]. 3 So Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai, ...
Read More

Judges 4 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Deborah and Barak4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sis′era, who dwelt in Haro′sheth-ha-goi′im. 3 Then the people of Israel...
Read More

Judges 4 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Deborah and Barak4 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sis′era, who dwelt in Haro′sheth-ha-goiim. 3 Then the people of Israel ...
Read More

Judges 4 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Deborah and Barak4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. 3 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lo...
Read More

Judges 4 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Deborah and Barak4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died.(A)2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim.(B)3 Then the Israelites cried out to the ...
Read More

Judges 4 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Deborah Becomes Israel’s Judge4 After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 2 So the Lord turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. 3 Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppre...
Read More

Judges 4 - New Life Version (NLV)

Deborah and Barak4 After Ehud died, the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord again. 2 So the Lord let them be taken by Jabin king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The head of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 The people of Israel cried to the Lord, for Jabin had 900 i...
Read More

Judges 4 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Deborah4 When Ehud was dead, (A)the children of Israel again did (B)evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 So the Lord (C)sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in (D)Hazor. The commander of his army was (E)Sisera, who dwelt in (F)Harosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cri...
Read More

Judges 4 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Deborah4 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron ...
Read More

Judges 4 - New International Version (NIV)

Deborah4 Again the Israelites did evil(A) in the eyes of the Lord,(B) now that Ehud(C) was dead. 2 So 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. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots f...
Read More

Judges 4 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Deborah4 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 So the Lord handed them over to the power of Jabin. He was a king in Canaan. He ruled in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera. He lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Jabin used 900 chariots that had...
Read More

Judges 4 - New English Translation (NET)

Deborah Summons Barak4 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight[a] after Ehud’s death. 2 The Lord turned them over to[b] King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor.[c] The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim.[d] 3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, be...
Read More