Women of the Bible

Reading order — first 40 of 307

1. Judges.4.1
   1After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD.
2. 2So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
3. 3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
4. 4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5. 5And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.
6. 6She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.
7. 7And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
8. 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
9. 9“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,
10. 10where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
11. 11Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
12. 12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,
13. 13he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.
14. 14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
15. 15And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
16. 16Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
17. 17Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18. 18Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19. 19Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.
20. 20“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21. 21But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
22. 22When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple.
23. 23On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.
24. 24And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.
25. 1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
26. 2“When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD.
27. 3Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
28. 4O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
29. 5The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
30. 6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.
31. 7Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.
32. 8When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.
33. 9My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD!
34. 10You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder
35. 11the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:
36. 12‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’
37. 13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.
38. 14Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun.
39. 15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.
40. 16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.