Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”

Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him. Judah went up; and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they struck of them in Bezek ten thousand men. They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adoni-Bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.) Caleb said, “He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

It happened, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

She said to him, “Give me a blessing; for that you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. Yahweh was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of Anak. The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

The house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and Yahweh was with them. The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) The watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” He showed them the entrance into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor of Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. It happened, when Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out. Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

1:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim.”

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It happened, when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to Yahweh. Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had worked for Israel. Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who didn’t know Yahweh, nor yet the work which he had worked for Israel. The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals; and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger. They forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them: and they were very distressed. Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Yahweh; but they didn’t do so. When Yahweh raised them up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. But it happened, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they didn’t cease from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.” So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

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The king said, “Keep silence!” All who stood by him went out from him.

Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God to you.” He arose out of his seat. Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: and the handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn’t draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them.

Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, “Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room.” They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn’t open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them, and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah. It happened, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he before them.

He said to them, “Follow me; for Yahweh has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over. They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years.

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck of the Philistines six hundred men with an oxgoad: and he also saved Israel.

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Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

She said, “I will surely go with you: nevertheless, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon.

Deborah said to Barak, “Go; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn’t Yahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. Yahweh confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left.

However 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. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.”

She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’”

Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

“Because the leaders took the lead in Israel,

because the people offered themselves willingly,

be blessed, Yahweh!

 

“Hear, you kings!

Give ear, you princes!

I, even I, will sing to Yahweh.

I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

 

“Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir,

when you marched out of the field of Edom,

the earth trembled, the sky also dropped.

Yes, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh,

even Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

 

“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,

in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied.

The travelers walked through byways.

The rulers ceased in Israel.

They ceased until I, Deborah, arose;

Until I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods.

Then war was in the gates.

Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel,

who offered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless Yahweh!

 

“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,

you who sit on rich carpets,

and you who walk by the way.

Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,

there they will rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh,

Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.

 

“Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.

‘Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, utter a song!

Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.’

 

“Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down.

Yahweh came down for me against the mighty.

Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim,

after you, Benjamin, among your peoples.

Governors come down out of Machir.

Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun.

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah.

As was Issachar, so was Barak.

They rushed into the valley at his feet.

By the watercourses of Reuben,

there were great resolves of heart.

Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,

To hear the whistling for the flocks?

At the watercourses of Reuben

There were great searchings of heart.

Gilead lived beyond the Jordan.

Why did Dan remain in ships?

Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,

and lived by his creeks.

Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the deaths;

Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

 

“The kings came and fought,

then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.

They took no plunder of silver.

From the sky the stars fought.

From their courses, they fought against Sisera.

The river Kishon swept them away,

that ancient river, the river Kishon.

My soul, march on with strength.

Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancings,

the prancings of their strong ones.

‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of Yahweh.

‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants,

because they didn’t come to help Yahweh,

to help Yahweh against the mighty.’

 

“Jael shall be blessed above women,

the wife of Heber the Kenite;

blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

He asked for water.

She gave him milk.

She brought him butter in a lordly dish.

She put her hand to the tent peg,

and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer.

With the hammer she struck Sisera.

She struck through his head.

Yes, 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 out, and cried:

Sisera’s mother looked through the lattice.

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?’

Her wise ladies answered her,

Yes, she returned answer to herself,

‘Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?

A lady, two ladies 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 your enemies perish, Yahweh,

but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises forth in its strength.”

Then the land had rest forty years.