| 1 |
And the children of
Israel again did evil in the sight of
the Lord, when Ehud was dead. |
| 2 |
And they were sold into
the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that
reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose
host was Sisera, which dwelt in
Harosheth of the Gentiles. |
| 3 |
And the children of
Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had
nine hundred chariots of iron; and
twenty years he mightily oppressed the
children of Israel. |
| 4 |
And Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she
judged Israel at that time. |
| 5 |
And she dwelt under the
palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and
Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the
children of Israel came up to her for
judgment. |
| 6 |
And she sent and called
Barak
the son of Abinoam out of
Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Has
not the Lord God of Israel commanded,
saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor,
and take with you ten thousand men of
the children of Naphtali and of the
children of Zebulun? |
| 7 |
And I will draw unto you
to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain
of Jabin's army, with his chariots and
his multitude; and I will deliver him
into your hand. |
| 8 |
And Barak
said unto her, If you will go
with me, then I will go: but if you will
not go with me, then I will not go. |
| 9 |
And she said, I will
surely go with thee: notwithstanding the
journey that you takest shall not be for
your honour; for the Lord shall sell
Sisera into the hand of a woman. And
Deborah arose, and went with Barak
to Kedesh. |
| 10 |
And Barak
called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh;
and he went up with ten thousand men at
his feet: and Deborah went up with him. |
| 11 |
Now Heber the Kenite,
which was of the children of Hobab the
father in law of Moses, had severed
himself from the Kenites, and pitched
his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim,
which is by Kedesh. |
| 12 |
And they shown Sisera
that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone
up to mount Tabor. |
| 13 |
And Sisera gathered
together all his chariots, even nine
hundred chariots of iron, and all the
people that were with him, from
Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river
of Kishon. |
| 14 |
And Deborah said unto Barak,
Up; for this is the day in which the
Lord has delivered Sisera into your
hand: is not the Lord gone out before
thee? So Barak
went down from mount Tabor, and ten
thousand men after him. |
| 15 |
And the Lord discomfited
Sisera, and all his chariots, and all
his host, with the edge of the sword
before Barak;
so that Sisera lighted down off his
chariot, and fled away on his feet. |
| 16 |
But
Barak pursued after the
chariots, and after the host, unto
Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the
host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the
sword; and there was not a man left. |
| 17 |
Howbeit Sisera fled away
on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife
of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace
between Jabin the king of Hazor and the
house of Heber the Kenite. |
| 18 |
And Jael went out to
meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in,
my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And
when he had turned in unto her into the
tent, she covered him with a mantle. |
| 19 |
And he said unto her,
Give me, I pray thee, a little water to
drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened
a bottle of milk, and gave him drink,
and covered him. |
| 20 |
Again he said unto her,
Stand in the door of the tent, and it
shall be, when any man does come and
enquire of thee, and say, Is there any
man here? that you shall say, No. |
| 21 |
Then Jael Heber's wife
took a nail of the tent, and took an
hammer in her hand, and went softly unto
him, and struck the nail into his
temples, and fastened it into the
ground: for he was fast asleep and
weary. So he died. |
| 22 |
And, behold, as Barak
pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet
him, and said unto him, Come, and I will
shew you the man whom you seekest. And
when he came into her tent, behold,
Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his
temples. |
| 23 |
So on that day Jabin the
king of Canaan was subdued before the
children of Israel. |
| 24 |
And
the hand of the children of Israel
prospered, and prevailed against Jabin
the king of Canaan, until they had
destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
Old
Testament
Judges
Chapter
- 5
| 1 |
Then
sang Deborah and Barak
the son of Abinoam on that
day, saying, |
| 2 |
Praise
you the Lord for the avenging
of Israel, when the people
willingly offered themselves. |
| 3 |
Hear,
O you kings; give ear, O you
princes; I, even I, will sing
unto the Lord; I will sing
praise to the Lord God of
Israel. |
| 4 |
LORD,
when you went out of Seir,
when you marchedst out of the
field of Edom, the earth
trembled, and the heavens
dropped, the clouds also
dropped water. |
| 5 |
The
mountains melted from before
the Lord, even that Sinai from
before the Lord God of Israel. |
| 6 |
In
the days of Shamgar the son of
Anath, in the days of Jael,
the highways were unoccupied,
and the travellers walked
through byways. |
| 7 |
The
inhabitants of the villages
ceased, they ceased in Israel,
until that I Deborah arose,
that I arose a mother in
Israel. |
| 8 |
They
chose new gods; then was war
in the gates: was there a
shield or spear seen among
forty thousand in Israel? |
| 9 |
My
heart is toward the governors
of Israel, that offered
themselves willingly among the
people. Bless you the Lord. |
| 10 |
Speak,
you that ride on white asses,
you that sit in judgment, and
walk by the way. |
| 11 |
They
that are delivered from the
noise of archers in the places
of drawing water, there shall
they rehearse the righteous
acts of the Lord, even the
righteous acts toward the
inhabitants of his villages in
Israel: then shall the people
of the Lord go down to the
gates. |
| 12 |
Awake,
awake, Deborah: awake, awake,
utter a song: arise, Barak,
and lead thy captivity
captive, you son of Abinoam. |
| 13 |
Then
he made him that remains have
dominion over the nobles among
the people: the Lord made me
have dominion over the mighty. |
| 14 |
Out
of Ephraim was there a root of
them against Amalek; after
thee, Benjamin, among thy
people; out of Machir came
down governors, and out of
Zebulun they that handle the
pen of the writer. |
| 15 |
And
the princes of Issachar were
with Deborah; even Issachar,
and also Barak:
he was sent on foot into the
valley. For the divisions of
Reuben there were great
thoughts of heart. |
| 16 |
Why
abodest you among the
sheepfolds, to hear the
bleatings of the flocks? For
the divisions of Reuben there
were great searchings of
heart. |
| 17 |
Gilead
abode beyond Jordan: and why
did Dan remain in ships? |
| 18 |
Zebulun
and Naphtali were a people
that jeoparded their lives
unto the death in the high
places of the field. |
| 19 |
The
kings came and fought, then
fought the kings of Canaan in
Taanach by the waters of
Megiddo; they took no gain of
money. |
| 20 |
They
fought from heaven; the stars
in their courses fought
against Sisera. |
| 21 |
The
river of Kishon swept them
away, that ancient river, the
river Kishon. O my soul, you
have trodden down strength. |
| 22 |
Then
were the horsehoofs broken by
the means of the pransings,
the pransings of their mighty
ones. |
| 23 |
Curse
you Meroz, said the angel of
the Lord, curse you bitterly
the inhabitants thereof;
because they came not to the
help of the Lord, to the help
of the Lord against the
mighty. |
| 24 |
Blessed
above women shall Jael the
wife of Heber the Kenite be,
blessed shall she be above
women in the tent. |
| 25 |
He
asked water, and she gave him
milk; she brought forth butter
in a lordly dish. |
| 26 |
She
put her hand to the nail, and
her right hand to the
workmen's hammer; and with the
hammer she struck Sisera, she
struck off his head, when she
had pierced and stricken
through his temples. |
| 27 |
At
her feet he bowed, he fell, he
lay down: at her feet he
bowed, he fell: where he
bowed, there he fell down
dead. |
| 28 |
The
mother of Sisera looked out at
a window, and cried through
the lattice, Why is his
chariot so long in coming? why
wait the wheels of his
chariots? |
| 29 |
Her
wise ladies answered her, yea,
she returned answer to
herself, |
| 30 |
Have
they not sped? have they not
divided the prey; to every man
a damsel or two; to Sisera a
prey of divers colours, a prey
of divers colours of
needlework, of divers colours
of needlework on both sides,
meet for the necks of them
that take the spoil? |
| 31 |
So
let all your enemies perish, O
Lord: but let them that love
him be as the sun when he goes
forth in his might. And the
land had rest forty years.
|
32-38. What shall we
more say? All these cases
are examples of heroic deeds and holy
lives of faith. And the Scriptures are
full of them; of such examples
as Gideon ( Judges 6:11 ); Barak ( Judges 4:1 ); Samson ( Judges 13:1 ); Jephthae ( Judges 11:1 ); of
David also ( 1 Sam. 16:1 ); Samuel ( 1 Sam. 1:20 ); The
prophets. Many of these
were illustrious examples of the power
of faith. 33.
Who through faith subdued kingdoms. Some
of those named subdued kingdoms, as
Barak, Gideon, David. Obtained
promises. Promises were
made to many of the worthies named. Stopped
the mouths of lions. The
case of Daniel is the most remarkable.
See Dan. 6:20 . 34.
Quenched the violence of fire. See
the case of "the Hebrew children"
in Dan. 3:19-28 . Escaped
the edge of the sword. See 1 Samuel 18:10 1 Samuel 18:11 . 35.
Women received their dead raised to
life again. The widow of
Zarephath ( 1 Kings
17:17-24 ) and the
Shunammite ( 2 Kings 4:18-37 )
are examples. Others were
tortured. This was
especially true in the terrible
persecutions recorded in the Book of
Maccabees. A better
resurrection. They
preferred to suffer in hope of the
resurrection to eternal life. 36.
Others had trial of, etc. This
was true of many persecutions recorded
in Jewish history. 37.
They were stoned. See 1 Kings
21:10-15 1 Kings 21:2 2 Chron. 24:21 . Sawn
asunder. The Talmud says
that this was Isaiah's fate. 38.
Of whom the world was not worthy. When
it rejects the good it shows its
unworthiness. They wandered in
deserts. To hide from
persecutors.
39, 40. And
these all, having obtained a good
report through faith. By
the power of faith they lived holy and
heroic lives, but all died without
having seen the fulfillment of the
promise of a Deliverer. 40.
God having provided some better
thing for us. The new and
better covenant, the gospel, the
realization of the promise made to
Abraham. That they without us
should not be made perfect. That
they and we together might be made
complete in the city whose builder and
maker is God. The full fruition, the
being made complete (perfect) belongs
to the heavenly state. All these
ancient heroes, who died not having
received the promise, need the
realization of the promise in Christ
to make them perfect; by that promise
we also are saved.
|