Deborah the leader
1The Israelites did bad things again, things that the Lord said are wrong. After Ehud died 2the Lord let King Jabin of Canaan defeat the Israelites. King Jabin lived in a palace in the town of Hazor. The chief of his army was Sisera, and he lived in Harosheth-Haggoyim. 3King Jabin had 900 war-chariots made of iron and he ruled over the Israelites for 20 years and oppressed them. Then the Israelites prayed to the Lord and asked Him to help them. 4At that time Deborah was the leader of the Israelites. She was a prophetess and she was married to Lappidoth. 5She always sat under a palm tree while she judged the people, and they named it the Deborah-Palm. It was in the mountains of Ephraim between the towns of Ramah and Bethel. The Israelites came to her when they had problems with one another. 6Deborah asked Barak to come to her. Barak was from the town of Kedesh in Naphtali and he was the son of Abinoam. Deborah told Barak: ‘The Lord God of Israel said you must take 10 000 men from the Naphtali and Zebulun people with you. Go to Mount Tabor and wait there. 7The Lord will send Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to the Kishon River. He will have his soldiers and war-chariots with him, but the Lord will help you defeat them.’
8Barak said to Deborah: ‘I will go if you go with me, but if you do not come with me, then I will not go.’ 9Deborah said: ‘Yes, I will go with you, but because you have said this, the people will say that the Lord used a woman to defeat Sisera and his army. They will not say it was you.’ Then Deborah went with Barak to the town of Kedesh. 10Barak called the men of the Zebulun and Naphtali tribes. There were 10 000 men. Deborah went with them.
11Heber was one of the Kenite people. They were family of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses. Heber went away from the Kenites and he put up his tents near the big tree in Zaanannim near the town of Kedesh. 12They told Sisera that Barak and his men had gone up Mount Tabor. 13Sisera took all his soldiers and his 900 war-chariots made of iron from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14Deborah said to Barak: ‘Go, go to war_against them, because today God will help you defeat Sisera and his men. Remember, the Lord goes before you, and He will help you.’
Barak and his 10 000 men went down from Mount Tabor. 15When they got near to Sisera, the Lord made all of Sisera's soldiers afraid of Barak and his soldiers and they ran away. Sisera jumped off his war-chariot and he fled.
16Barak and his men ran after Sisera, his soldiers and his war-chariots. They followed them to the town of Harosheth-Haggoyim and they killed all of Sisera's soldiers. Not one stayed alive.
17But Sisera ran and he fled to the tent of Jael. She was the wife of Heber, a Kenite man. King Jabin and Heber's family were friends. 18Jael came out of her tent to meet Sisera and she told him: ‘Come to me, sir. Don't be afraid.’
Sisera went into her tent and she hid him under a blanket. 19He said he was thirsty and asked for water to drink. 20She gave him milk to drink and then she hid him again. Sisera told her: ‘You must stand at the door of the tent and if someone asks you if anyone is in the tent, you must say no.’
21Sisera was tired and he started to sleep. Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent-peg and a hammer and she went quietly to Sisera. She hit the tent-peg through Sisera's head and into the ground and he died. 22Barak came looking for Sisera and Jael went to Barak and said to him: ‘Come, I will show you the man that you are looking for.’
Barak came into her tent and he saw Sisera lying there with the tent-peg through his head. He was dead. 23Yes, the Lord humiliated King Jabin of Canaan on that day, and the Israelites defeated them. 24The Israelites became a stronger nation and they ruled over King Jabin of Canaan until they destroyed him.
