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Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 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. 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.

And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 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. And Deborah said unto Barak: "Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand is not the Lord gone out before thee?" So Barak went down from mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Again he said unto her : "Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No." Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him: "Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest." And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that

day, saying:

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,

For that the people offered themselves willingly,

Bless ye Jehovah,

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah,

I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
The clouds also dropped water,

The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of
Israel.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,

In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through byways.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased; they ceased in
Israel,

Until that thou Deborah arose, thou arose a mother in
Israel.

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My heart is toward the governors of Israel,

That offered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless ye the Lord.

Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,

Ye that sit upon carpets,

Ye too that but walk by the way.

Far 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 of his rule in Israel.

Then came down to the gates the people of the Lord.

1 The sense of this obscure verse is disputed.

Awake, awake, Deborah;

Awake, awake, utter a song:

Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of
Abinoam.

Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people,
Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.

Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Ama-
lek;

After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;

Out of Machir1 came down governors,

And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

As was Issachar, so was Barak;

Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.

By the watercourses of Reuben were there great resolve of heart.

Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds

To hear the pipings for the flocks?

At the watercourses of Reuben were there great search ings of heart.

Gilead abode beyond Jordan;

And why did Dan 2 remain in ships?

Asher sat still at the shore of the sea,

And abode by his creeks.

Zebulun were a people that jeoparded their lives un

the death.

And Naphtali upon the high places of the field.

The kings came and fought;

Then fought the kings of Canaan,

In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;

They took no gain of money.

They fought from heaven,

The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

The river Kishon swept them away,

That ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength!
Then did the horse hoofs stamp,

1 Machir. A clan of Manasseh.

2 Dan. The tribe seems here to be already connected with the seafaring nicians. Its migration to the north is recounted on p. 199 ff.

By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty

ones.

Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty.
Blessed above women be Jael,

The wife of Heber the Kenite,

Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail,

1

And her right hand to the workmen's hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera,

She smote through his head,

Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;

At her feet he bowed, he fell :

Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice:
Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the wheels of his chariots ?

Her wise ladies answered her,

Yea, she returned answer to herself,

Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil:

A damsel, two damsels to every man;

To Sisera, a spoil of dyed garments,

A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,

Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?

So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord:

But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.

And the land had rest forty years.

Gideon, Deliverer from the Midianites (Judg. vi. 1.—viii. 32). And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the

1 butter. Sour milk or curds.

Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianand the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

ites;

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them: "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; and I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice."

And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite : and his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress,1 to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him; "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." And Gideon said unto him: "Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

And the Lord looked upon him, and said: "Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites have not I sent thee?" And he said unto him: "Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the 1 The winepress was a shallow pit from which the grape-juice was pressed out into deeper vats.

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