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Judges · Literal Standard Version

Judges 4 Literal Standard Version

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  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Majority (Byzantine) text
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Very literal
  • 2020
  • CC BY-SA 4.0

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH when Ehud is dead, 2 and YHWH sells them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who has reigned in Hazor, and Sisera [is] the head of his host, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the nations; 3 and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, for he has nine hundred chariots of iron, and he has oppressed the sons of Israel mightily [for] twenty years. 4 And Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging Israel at that time, 5 and she is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go up to her for judgment. 6 And she sends and calls for Barak son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and says to him, “Has YHWH, God of Israel, not commanded? Go, and you have drawn toward Mount Tabor, and have taken with you ten thousand men, out of the sons of Naphtali, and out of the sons of Zebulun, 7 and I have drawn to you, to the Brook of Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into your hand.” 8 And Barak says to her, “If you go with me, then I have gone; and if you do not go with me, I do not go”; 9 and she says, “I certainly go with you; only, surely your glory is not on the way which you are going, for YHWH sells Sisera into the hand of a woman”; and Deborah rises and goes with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak calls Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he goes up—ten thousand men [are] at his feet—and Deborah goes up with him. 11 And Heber the Kenite has been separated from the Kenite, from the sons of Hobab father-in-law of Moses, and he stretches out his tent to the oak in Zaanaim, which [is] by Kedesh. 12 And they declare to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam has gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 and Sisera calls all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who [are] with him, from Harosheth of the nations, to the Brook of Kishon. 14 And Deborah says to Barak, “Rise, for this [is] the day in which YHWH has given Sisera into your hand; has YHWH not gone out before you?” And Barak goes down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And YHWH destroys Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the camp, by the mouth of the sword, before Barak, and Sisera comes down from off the chariot, and flees on his feet. 16 And Barak has pursued after the chariots and after the camp, to Harosheth of the nations, and all the camp of Sisera falls by the mouth of the sword—there has not been left even one. 17 And Sisera has fled on his feet to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for [there is] peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; 18 and Jael goes out to meet Sisera and says to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, do not fear”; and he turns aside to her, into the tent, and she covers him with a mantle. 19 And he says to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty”; and she opens the bottle of milk, and gives him to drink, and covers him. 20 And he says to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and it has been, if any comes in, and has asked you and said, Is there a man here? That you have said, There is not.” 21 And Jael wife of Heber takes the pin of the tent, and takes the hammer in her hand, and goes to him gently, and strikes the pin into his temples, and it fastens in the earth—and he has been fast asleep, and is weary—and he dies. 22 And behold, Barak is pursuing Sisera, and Jael comes out to meet him, and says to him, “Come, and I show you the man whom you are seeking”; and he comes to her, and behold, Sisera is fallen—dead, and the pin [is] in his temples. 23 And God humbles Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel on that day, 24 and the hand of the sons of Israel goes, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, until they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Abinoam

    Father of Barak

    Named as the father of Barak of Kedesh in Naphtali.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:6; Judges 4:12; Judges 5:1

  • Barak

    Commander who defeated Sisera

    Son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali whom Deborah summoned to lead ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun against Sisera, and who sang Deborah's song with her.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:6; Judges 4:14; Judges 5:1

  • Deborah

    Prophetess and judge of Israel

    Prophetess and wife of Lappidoth who judged Israel from under the Palm of Deborah in the hill country of Ephraim, summoned Barak to fight Sisera, and sang the victory song with…

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:4; Judges 4:9; Judges 5:1

  • Heber

    Kenite, husband of Jael

    Kenite who had separated from the descendants of Hobab, pitched his tent near Kedesh, and was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor, and whose wife Jael killed Sisera.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:11; Judges 4:17; Judges 5:24

  • Hobab

    Midianite son of Reuel

    The son of Moses' father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, whom Moses urged to guide Israel through the wilderness and who answered that he would return to his own land and people.

    Cited in the guide: Numbers 10:29–30; Judges 4:11

  • Jabin

    Canaanite king in Hazor

    King of Canaan who reigned in Hazor and oppressed Israel twenty years with nine hundred iron chariots until God subdued him after Barak's victory; Scripture does not say whether…

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:2; Judges 4:17; Judges 4:23–24

  • Jael

    Kenite woman who killed Sisera

    Wife of Heber the Kenite who gave the fleeing Sisera shelter and killed him with a tent peg, and whom Deborah's song calls most blessed among tent-dwelling women.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:17; Judges 4:21; Judges 5:6

  • Lappidoth

    Husband of Deborah

    Named only as the husband of the prophetess and judge Deborah.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:4

  • Sisera

    Commander of Jabin's army

    Commander of Jabin's forces, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim, was routed by Barak at the Kishon, and was killed by Jael with a tent peg.

    Cited in the guide: Judges 4:2; Judges 4:15; Judges 4:21

Cross references (24)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Jeremiah 5:3; Leviticus 26:23–25; Judges 3:12; Judges 10:6; Psalm 106:43–45
  2. 2 Judges 4:13; Joshua 11:1; Judges 4:16; Psalm 83:9; 1 Samuel 12:9
  3. 3 Judges 1:19; Psalm 106:42; Judges 3:9; Judges 5:8; Judges 10:16
  4. 4 Exodus 15:20; 2 Kings 22:14; Galatians 3:28; Luke 2:36; Joel 2:28–29
  5. 5 Exodus 18:19; 1 Samuel 1:1; Joshua 18:25; Deuteronomy 17:8–12; Joshua 16:2
  6. 6 Acts 13:47; Judges 8:18; Hebrews 11:32; Joshua 19:32; Joshua 19:37
  7. 7 Psalm 83:9–10; Ezekiel 38:10–16; 1 Kings 18:40; Judges 5:21; Joel 3:11–14
  8. 8 Exodus 4:10–14; Matthew 14:30–31
  9. 9 1 Samuel 2:30; Judges 5:24–27; Judges 9:54; Judges 2:14; 2 Samuel 20:21–22
  10. 10 Judges 5:18; Judges 5:15; 1 Samuel 25:27; Exodus 11:8; Judges 4:14
  11. 11 Numbers 10:29; Joshua 19:33; Judges 1:16; Joshua 19:37; Exodus 3:1
  12. 12 Psalm 89:12; Joshua 19:34; Joshua 19:12; Jeremiah 46:18; Judges 4:6
  13. 13 Judges 4:2–3; Judges 4:7
  14. 14 2 Samuel 5:24; Deuteronomy 9:3; Isaiah 52:12; Psalm 68:7–8; Micah 2:13
  15. 15 Joshua 10:10; Psalm 83:9–10; 2 Chronicles 13:15–17; Hebrews 11:32; Judges 5:20–21
  16. 16 Romans 2:12; James 2:13; Leviticus 26:7–8; Isaiah 43:17; Joshua 10:19–20
  17. 17 Isaiah 57:21; Psalm 37:35–36; Psalm 69:22; Job 12:19–21; Job 18:7–12
  18. 18 2 Kings 6:19
  19. 19 Judges 5:25–26; John 4:7; Genesis 24:43; 1 Kings 17:10; Isaiah 41:17
  20. 20 Joshua 2:3–5; 2 Samuel 17:20
  21. 21 Psalm 3:7; Judges 5:26–27; 1 Corinthians 1:27; Judges 3:21; 1 Corinthians 1:19
  22. 22 2 Samuel 17:3; 2 Samuel 17:10–15
  23. 23 Psalm 18:47; Nehemiah 9:24; Psalm 18:39; 1 Chronicles 22:18; 1 Corinthians 15:28
  24. 24 1 Samuel 3:12

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences