| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1After Ehud died, while the LORD was watching, the Israelis made the evil they had been practicing even worse, | 1After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the LORD’s sight. |
| 2so the LORD turned them over to domination by Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commanding officer of his army, lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. | 2So 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. |
| 3The Israelis cried out to the LORD, because of his 900 iron chariots. Jabin oppressed the Israelis forcefully for twenty years. | 3Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help. |
| 4Deborah, a woman, prophet, and wife of Lappidoth, was herself judging Israel during that time. | 4Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. |
| 5She regularly took her seat under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountainous region of Ephraim, where the Israelis would approach her for decisions. | 5She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment. |
| 6She sent word to Abinoam's son Barak from Kedesh-naphtali, summoning him. She asked him, "The LORD God of Israel has commanded you, hasn't he? He told you, 'Go out, march to Mount Tabor, and take 10,000 men with you from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. | 6One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. |
| 7I will draw out Sisera, the commanding officer of Jabin's army, along with his chariots and troops, to the Kishon River, where I will drop him right into your hands.'" | 7And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.” |
| 8"If you'll go with me, I'll go," Barak replied. "But if you won't go with me, then I'm not going." | 8Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.” |
| 9She responded, "I will surely go with you, but the road that you're about to take will not lead to honor for you. The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak toward Kedesh. | 9“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the LORD’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. |
| 10Barak called out the army of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to march on Kedesh, and 10,000 men went out to war with him, along with Deborah. | 10At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors went up with him. Deborah also went with him. |
| 11Meanwhile, Heber the Kenite had been separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Moses' father-in-law Hobab. He had pitched his tents far away, near the Elon-bezaanannim. | 11Now Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses’ brother-in-law Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh. |
| 12Furthermore, Sisera had been informed that Abinoam's son Barak had marched on Mount Tabor. | 12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, |
| 13So Sisera gathered his iron chariots together from Harosheth-haggoyim —all 900 of them, along with all the people who were assigned to them—and they assembled at the Kishon River. | 13he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River. |
| 14"Get going!" Deborah told Barak. "Because today's the day when the LORD has dropped Sisera into your hands! Look! The LORD has already gone out ahead of you!" So Barak left Mount Tabor, followed by 10,000 men, | 14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. |
| 15and the LORD threw Sisera, all the chariots, and his entire army into a panic right in front of Barak. Then Sisera abandoned his chariot and escaped on foot | 15When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. |
| 16while Barak chased the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-haggoyim. Sisera's entire army died in the battle—not even one soldier remained. | 16Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. Not a single one was left alive. |
| 17Meanwhile, Sisera had escaped on foot to a tent belonging to Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, since there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the household of Heber the Kenite. | 17Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber’s family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. |
| 18Jael went out to greet Sisera. "Turn aside, sir!" she told him. "Turn aside to me! Don't be afraid." So he turned aside to her and entered her tent, where she concealed him behind a curtain. | 18Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come into my tent, sir. Come in. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. |
| 19He asked her, "Please give me some water to drink, because I'm thirsty." Instead, she opened a leather container of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up. | 19“Please give me some water,” he said. “I’m thirsty.” So she gave him some milk from a leather bag and covered him again. |
| 20He told her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks 'Is anybody here?' say 'No'." | 20“Stand at the door of the tent,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no.” |
| 21But Heber's wife Jael grabbed a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other, crept up to him quietly, and drove the tent peg right through his temple into the ground below after he had fallen sound asleep from exhaustion. That's how he died. | 21But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died. |
| 22Meanwhile, as Barak continued chasing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. "Come with me," she told him, "and I'll show you the man you're looking for!" So he went with her, and there was Sisera, lying dead with the tent peg still embedded in his temple! | 22When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple. |
| 23That's how God subdued Jabin, king of Canaan right in front of the Israelis that day. | 23So on that day Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king. |
| 24And the Israelis gained greater control over King Jabin of Canaan until they had eliminated him. | 24And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
