Judges 4

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1. 1After Ehud died, the people of Israel once again did what the LORD saw as evil.
2. 2So the LORD handed them over to Jabin, a Canaanite king who ruled from Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3. 3The Israelites cried out to the LORD for help, because Sisera had 900 iron chariots and had mightily oppressed them for 20 years.
4. 4At that time, a prophetess named Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, was leading Israel as judge.
5. 5She would sit under a palm tree known as Deborah's Palm, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would come to her to settle their disputes.
6. 6She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "Hasn't the LORD, the God of Israel, given you this command: 'March to Mount Tabor and take 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun with you.
7. 7I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, to the Kishon River with all his chariots and troops, and I will hand him over to you.'"
8. 8Barak told her, "If you go with me, I'll go. But if you won't go with me, I'm not going."
9. 9She said, "I will surely go with you, but the journey you are taking will not bring you honor, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10. 10Barak summoned the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and 10,000 men followed him. Deborah went with him.
11. 11Now Heber the Kenite, who was from the descendants of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law, had separated himself from the Kenites and set up his tent in the plain of Zaanaim, near Kedesh.
12. 12When Sisera received word that Barak son of Abinoam had marched up to Mount Tabor,
13. 13he assembled all 900 of his iron chariots and every soldier under his command, and moved them from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the Kishon River.
14. 14Deborah said to Barak, "Rise up; for today the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him.
15. 15The LORD defeated Sisera, along with all his chariots and troops, with the edge of the sword before Barak. Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16. 16Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way back to Harosheth of the Gentiles. Every last one of Sisera's soldiers was cut down — not a single man survived.
17. 17Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because King Jabin of Hazor and Heber's family were on peaceful terms.
18. 18Jael came out to meet Sisera and said, "Come in, my lord! Come inside; don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a mantle.
19. 19He said to her, "Please, give me a little water. I'm so thirsty." Instead, she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him back up.
20. 20Then he told her, "Stand at the entrance of the tent. If anyone comes by and asks, 'Is there a man in here?' tell them no."
21. 21But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and went quietly to him. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground while he was fast asleep and exhausted. So he died.
22. 22Just then, Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera. Jael came out to meet him and said, "Come — I'll show you the man you're looking for." He went inside, and there was Sisera, lying dead with the tent peg through his temple.
23. 23That day, God subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, in front of the children of Israel.
24. 24And the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin, the king of Canaan, until they had completely destroyed him.