Judges 4

¹And the sones of Israel addiden to do yuel in the `siyt of the Lord, aftir the deeth of Aioth.

²And the Lord bitook hem in to the hondis of Jabyn, kyng of Canaan, that regnede in Asor; and he hadde a duyk of his oost, Sisara bi name; and he dwellide in Aroseth of hethene men.

³And the sones of Israel crieden to the Lord; for he hadde nyn hundrid yrone charis, keruynge as sithis, and twenti yeer he oppresside hem greetli.

⁴Forsothe Delbora was a prophetesse, the wijf of Lapidoth, which Delbora demyde the puple in that tyme;

⁵and sche sat vndur a palm tree, that was clepid bi her name, bitwixe Rama and Bethel, in the hil of Effraym; and the sones of Israel stieden to hir at ech dom. And sche sente, and clepide Barach, the sone of Abynoen, of Cedes of Neptalym, and sche seide to hym, The Lord God of Israel comaundide to thee, Go thou, and lede an oost in to the hil of Thabor, and thou schalt take with thee ten thousande `of fiyteris of the sones of Neptalym and of the sones of Zabulon.

⁷Sotheli Y schal brynge to thee, in the place of the stronde of Cison, Sisara, prince of `the oost of Jabyn, and his charis, and al the multitude; and Y schal bitake hem in thin hond.

⁸And Barach seide to hir, If thou comest with me, Y schal go; if thou nylt come with me, Y schal not go.

⁹And sche seyde to hym, Sotheli Y schal go with thee; but in this tyme the victorie schal not be arettide to thee; for Sisara schal be bitakun in the hond of a womman. Therfor Delbora roos, and yede with Barach in to Cedes.

¹⁰And whanne Zabulon and Neptalym weren clepid, he stiede with ten thousynde of fiyteris, and hadde Delbora in his felouschipe.

¹¹Forsothe Aber of Cyneth hadde departid sum tyme fro othere Cyneys hise britheren, sones of Obab, `alie of Moises; and he hadde set forth tabernaclis `til to the valei, which is clepid Sennym, and was bisidis Cedes.

¹²And it was teld to Sisara, that Barach, sone of Abynoen, hadde stiede in to the hil of Thabor.

¹³And he gaderide nyn hundrid yronne charis, keruynge as sithis, and al the oost fro Aroseth of hethene men to the stronde of Cison.

¹⁴And Delbora seide to Barach, Rise thou, for this is the day, in which the Lord bitook Sisara in to thin hondis; lo! the Lord is thi ledere. And so Barach cam doun fro the hil of Thabor, and ten thousynde of fyyteris with hym.

¹⁵And the Lord made aferd Sisara, and alle `the charis of hym, and al the multitude, bi the scharpnesse of swerd, at the siyt of Barach, in so myche that Sisara lippide doun of the chare, and fledde `a foote. And Barach pursuede the charis fleynge and the oost `til to Aroseth of hethene men; and al the multitude of enemyes felde doun `til to deeth.

¹⁷Sotheli Sisara fledde, and cam to the tente of Jahel, the wijf of Aber Cyney; forsothe pees waas bitwixe Jabyn, kyng of Asor, and bitwixe the hows of Aber Cyney.

¹⁸Therfor Jahel yede out in to the comyng of Sisara, and seide to hym, My lord, entre thou to me, entre thou to me; drede thou not. And he entride in to `the tabernacle of hir, and was hilid of hir with a mentil.

¹⁹And he seide to hir, Y biseche, yyue `thou to me a litil of watir, for Y thirste greetli. And sche openyde a `botel of mylk, and yaf to hym to drynke, and hilide hym.

²⁰And Sisara seide to hir, Stonde thou bifor the dore of the tabernacle, and whanne ony man cometh, and axith thee, and seith, Whether ony man is here? thou schalt answere, No man is here.

²¹And so Jahel, the wijf of Aber, took a nayl of the tabernacle, and sche took also an hamer; and sche entride pryueli, and puttide with silence the nail on the temple of his heed, and sche fastnede the nail smytun with the hamer in to the brayn, `til to the erthe; and he slepte, and diede to gidere, and failide, and was deed.

²²And lo! Barach suede Sisara, `and cam; and Jahel yede out in to his comyng, and seide to hym, Come, and Y schal schewe to thee the man, whom thou sekist. And whanne he hadde entrid to hir, he siy Sisara liggynge deed, and a nail fastnede in to hise templis.

²³Therfor in that day God `made low Jabyn, the kyng of Canaan, bifor the sones of Israel; whiche encresiden ech dai, and with strong hond oppressiden Jabyn, the kyng of Canaan, til thei diden hym awey.

Judges 4

¹And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.

²And the Lord sold them 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.

³And 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.

⁴And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

⁵And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth–el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

⁶And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh–naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

⁷And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.

⁸And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

⁹And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹Now 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.

¹²And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶But 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.

¹⁷Howbeit 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰Again 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.

²¹Then 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.

²²And, 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.

²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

²⁴And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.