31 March - Judges 3-5

Jude Sat Dec 08, 2018 10:40 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

JUDGES 3

1And these are the nations which יהוה left, to try Yisra’ĕl by them, all those who had not known all the battles in Kena‛an,

2only that the generations of the children of Yisra’ĕl might know, to teach them battle, only those who before did not know them:

3five princes of the Philistines, and all the Kena‛anites, and the Tsiḏonians, and the Ḥiwwites who dwelt in Mount Leḇanon, from Mount Ba‛al Ḥermon to the entrance of Ḥamath.

4And they were to try Yisra’ĕl by them, to know whether they would obey the commands of יהוה, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Mosheh.

5Thus the children of Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the midst of the Kena‛anites, the Ḥittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Ḥiwwites, and the Yeḇusites,

6and took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their mighty ones.

7Thus the children of Yisra’ĕl did evil in the eyes of יהוה, and forgot יהוה their Elohim, and served the Ba‛als and the Ashĕrahs.

8And the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl, and He sold them into the hand of Kushan-Rish‛athayim sovereign of Aram Naharayim. And the children of Yisra’ĕl served Kushan-Rish‛athayim eight years.

9And when the children of Yisra’ĕl cried out to יהוה, יהוה raised up a saviour for the children of Yisra’ĕl, who saved them: Othni’ĕl son of Qenaz, Kalĕḇ’s younger brother.

10And the Spirit of יהוה came upon him, and he ruled Yisra’ĕl, and went out to battle, and יהוה gave into his hand Kushan-Rish‛athayim sovereign of Aram Naharayim. And his hand prevailed over Kushan-Rish‛athayim,

11and the land had rest for forty years. Then Othni’ĕl son of Qenaz died,

12and the children of Yisra’ĕl again did evil in the eyes of יהוה. And יהוה made Eg̅lon sovereign of Mo’aḇ strong against Yisra’ĕl, because they had done evil in the eyes of יהוה.

13And he gathered to himself the children of Ammon and Amalĕq, and went and smote Yisra’ĕl, and they took possession of the city of palms.

14And the children of Yisra’ĕl served Eg̅lon sovereign of Mo’aḇ eighteen years.

15And when the children of Yisra’ĕl cried out to יהוה, יהוה raised up a saviour for them: Ěhuḏ son of Gĕra, a Binyamite, a man impeded in his right hand. And by him the children of Yisra’ĕl sent a present to Eg̅lon sovereign of Mo’aḇ.

16And Ěhuḏ made himself a sword, it was double-edged and a cubit in length, and he girded it under his long robe on his right thigh.

17And he brought the present to Eg̅lon sovereign of Mo’aḇ. Now Eg̅lon was a very fat man.

18And it came to be that when he had finished bringing near the present, he sent away the people bearing the present.

19But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O sovereign.” And he said, “Be silent!” And all those standing beside him went out from him.

20And Ěhuḏ came to him while he was sitting in his cool roof room. And Ěhuḏ said, “I have a message from Elohim for you.” So he arose from his seat.

21And Ěhuḏ reached with his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his stomach.

22And the handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his stomach, and it came out behind.

23Then Ěhuḏ went out to the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24And when he had gone out, his servants came to look and saw the doors of the roof room were locked. So they said, “He is only covering his feet in the cool roof room.”

25And they waited until they were ashamed, but saw he was not opening the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them and saw their master, fallen to the ground, dead.

26But while they were delaying Ěhuḏ escaped and had passed beyond the stone images, and escaped to Se‛irah.

27And it came to be, when he arrived, that he blew the ram’s horn in the mountains of Ephrayim, and the children of Yisra’ĕl went down with him from the mountains, with him leading them.

28And he said to them, “Follow me, for יהוה has given your enemies the Mo’aḇites into your hand.” And they went down after him, and took the fords of Yardĕn leading to Mo’aḇ, and did not allow anyone to pass over.

29And they smote about ten thousand men of Mo’aḇ at that time, all robust and brave men, and not a man escaped.

30And on that day Mo’aḇ was humbled under the hand of Yisra’ĕl. And the land had rest for eighty years.

31And after him was Shamgar son of Anath, and he smote six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. And he too saved Yisra’ĕl.

JUDGES 4

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

2Therefore יהוה 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 Haggoyim.

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

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

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

6And she sent and called for Baraq son of Aḇino‛am from Qeḏesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not יהוה 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,

7and 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’?”

8And 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.”

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

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

11And 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.

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

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

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

15And יהוה 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.

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

17Sisera, 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.

18And 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.

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

20And 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.’ ”

21But 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.

22And 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.

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

24And 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.

JUDGES 5

1And on that day Deḇorah and Baraq son of Aḇino‛am sang, saying,

2“For leaders leading in Yisra’ĕl, for the people volunteering, bless יהוה!

3“Hear, O sovereigns! Give ear, O princes! I, I do sing to יהוה; I sing praise to יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.

4“יהוה, when You went out from Sĕ‛ir, when You stepped from the field of Eḏom, the earth shook and the heavens poured, the clouds also poured water.

5“The mountains flowed at the presence of יהוה, this Sinai, at the presence of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.

6“In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Ya‛ĕl, the highways were deserted, and the travellers went in crooked ways.

7“Leadership ceased, it ceased in Yisra’ĕl, until I, Deḇorah, arose – a mother in Yisra’ĕl arose.

8“They chose new mighty ones, then fighting was in the gates! Neither a shield nor spear was seen among forty thousand in Yisra’ĕl.

9“My heart is towards the lawgivers of Yisra’ĕl, the volunteers among the people. Bless יהוה!

10“You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk along the way, declare it!

11“By the voice of shouters, between the places of drawing water, there they recount the righteous acts of יהוה, the righteous acts of His leadership in Yisra’ĕl; then the people of יהוה shall go down to the gates.

12“Wake up, wake up, Deḇorah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Arise, Baraq, and lead your captives away, O son of Aḇino‛am!

13“Then He set the remnant to rule the nobles; יהוה came down for me against the mighty ones.

14“Out of Ephrayim their root is against Amalĕq. After you, Binyamin, with your peoples, out of Maḵir lawgivers came down, and out of Zeḇulun those who handle the scribe’s reed.

15“And the heads of Yissasḵar were with Deḇorah. And as Yissasḵar, so was Baraq sent into the valley under his command. Among the divisions of Re’uḇĕn there were great searchings of heart.

16“Why did you remain among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? The divisions of Re’uḇĕn have great searchings of heart.

17“Gil‛aḏ remained beyond the Yardĕn, and why did Dan remain on ships? Ashĕr continued at the seashore, and remained by its landing places.

18“Zeḇulun is a people who risked their lives to the point of death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the field.

19“Sovereigns came, they fought, then the sovereigns of Kena‛an fought in Ta‛anaḵ, by the waters of Meg̅iddo; they took no spoils of silver.

20“From the heavens they fought; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera.

21“The wadi of Qishon swept them away, that age-old wadi, the wadi of Qishon. O my being, you have trampled in strength!

22“Then stamped hoofs of horses, with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

23‘Curse Mĕroz,’ said a messenger of יהוה, ‘curse, curse its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of יהוה, to the help of יהוה among the mighty.’

24“Blessed above women is Ya‛ĕl, the wife of Ḥeḇer the Qĕynite – above women in tents she is blessed.

25“He asked for water, she gave milk; she brought out curdled milk in a bowl for nobles.

26“She stretched her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer. Then she pounded Sisera, she smashed his head, she pierced and struck through the side of his head.

27“Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell – destroyed.

28“Through the window the mother of Sisera looked, and cried out through the lattice, ‘Why does his chariot delay to come? Why have the steps of his chariots tarried?’

29“The wise ones of her princesses answered her, indeed, she answered herself,

30‘Do they not find and divide the spoil: a girl or two for each man; a spoil of dyed work for Sisera, a spoil of dyed work embroidered, dyed work richly embroidered for the necks of the looter?’

31“So do all Your enemies perish, O יהוה! But let those who love Him be like the sun rising in its might!” And the land had rest forty years.