SHOPHETIM 4

1And when Ĕhuḏ was dead, the children of Yisra’ĕl again did evil in the eyes of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

2 Therefore 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 sold them into the hand of Yaḇin the sovereign of Kena’an, who reigned in Ḥatsor. And the commander of his army was Sisera, who was dwelling in Ḥarosheth ha’Goyim.

3 And the children of Yisra’ĕl cried out to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, because he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Yisra’ĕl.

4 And Deḇorah, a neḇiyah, the wife of Lappiḏoth, was judging Yisra’ĕl at that time.

5 And she was dwelling under the palmtree of Deḇorah between Ramah and Bĕyth Ĕl in the mountains of Ephrayim. And the children of Yisra’ĕl came up to her for right-ruling.

6 And she sent and called for Baraq son of Aḇino’am from Qeḏesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim of Yisra’ĕl commanded, ‘Go, and you shall draw towards Mount Taḇor, and shall take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zeḇulun,

7 and I shall draw unto you Sisera, the commander of Yaḇin’s army, with his chariots and his company at the wadi Qishon, and shall give him into your hand’?”

8 And Baraq said to her, “If you go with me, then I shall go; but if you do not go with me, I do not go.”

9 And she said, “I shall certainly go with you. Only, there shall be no esteem for you in the journey you are taking, for 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is going to sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deḇorah arose and went with Baraq to Qeḏesh.

10 And Baraq called Zeḇulun and Naphtali to Qeḏesh. And he went up – ten thousand men under his command – and Deḇorah went up with him.

11 And Ḥeḇer the Qĕynite, of the children of Ḥoḇaḇ the father-in-law of Mosheh, had separated himself from the Qĕynites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Tsa’anayim, which is beside Qeḏesh.

12 And they reported to Sisera that Baraq son of Aḇino’am had gone up to Mount Taḇor.

13 So Sisera called all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Ḥarosheth ha’Goyim to the wadi Qishon.

14 And Deḇorah said to Baraq, “Rise up! For this is the day in which 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has given Sisera into your hand. Has not 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 gone out before you?” And Baraq went down from Mount Taḇor with ten thousand men after him.

15 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 destroyed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Baraq. And Sisera leaped from his chariot and fled away on foot.

16 But Baraq pursued the chariots and the army as far as Ḥarosheth ha’Goyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword, not one was left.

17 Sisera, meanwhile, had fled on foot to the tent of Ya’ĕl, the wife of Ḥeḇer the Qĕynite, for there was peace between Yaḇin sovereign of Ḥatsor and the house of Ḥeḇer the Qĕynite.

18 And Ya’ĕl went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me, do not fear.” So he turned aside with her into the tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a flask of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him.

20 And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and asks you, and says, ‘Is there a man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”

21 But Ya’ĕl, Ḥeḇer’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into the side of his head, and it went down into the ground – for he was fast asleep and exhausted – and he died.

22 And see, as Baraq pursued Sisera, Ya’ĕl came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, let me show you the man whom you are seeking.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in the side of his head.

23 And on that day Elohim humbled Yaḇin sovereign of Kena’an in the presence of the children of Yisra’ĕl.

24 And the hand of the children of Yisra’ĕl grew stronger and stronger against Yaḇin sovereign of Kena’an, until they had cut off Yaḇin sovereign of Kena’an.