Shofetim, starting at chapter 4
{4:1} The children of Yisra'el again did that which was evil in the
sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. {4:2} The LORD sold them into
the hand of Yavin king of Kana`an, who reigned in Hatzor; the captain
of whose host was Sisera, who lived in Haroshet of the Goyim. {4:3}
The children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD: for he had nine hundred
chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children
of Yisra'el. {4:4} Now Devorah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidot,
she judged Yisra'el at that time. {4:5} She lived under the palm tree
of Devorah between Ramah and Beit-El in the hill-country of Efrayim:
and the children of Yisra'el came up to her for judgment. {4:6} She
sent and called Barak the son of Avino`am out of Kedesh-Naftali, and
said to him, Hasn't the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, commanded,
[saying], Go and draw to Mount Tavor, and take with you ten thousand
men of the children of Naftali and of the children of Zevulun? {4:7} I
will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Yavin's
army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into
your hand. {4:8} 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. {4:9} She
said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding, the journey that you
take shall not be for your honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into
the hand of a woman. Devorah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
{4:10} Barak called Zevulun and Naftali together to Kedesh; and there
went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Devorah went up with him.
{4:11} Now Hever the Keni had separated himself from the Kinim, even
from the children of Hovav the brother-in-law of Moshe, and had
pitched his tent as far as the oak in Tza`anannim, which is by Kedesh.
{4:12} They told Sisera that Barak the son of Avino`am was gone up to
Mount Tavor. {4:13} Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even
nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him,
from Haroshet of the Goyim, to the river Kishon. {4:14} Devorah said
to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered
Sisera into your hand; hasn't the LORD gone out before you? So Barak
went down from Mount Tavor, and ten thousand men after him. {4:15} The
LORD confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the
edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot,
and fled away on his feet. {4:16} But Barak pursued after the
chariots, and after the host, to Haroshet of the Goyim: and all the
host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man
left. {4:17} However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Ya`el
the wife of Hever the Keni; for there was shalom between Yavin the
king of Hatzor and the house of Hever the Keni. {4:18} Ya`el 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. {4:19} 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. {4:20} He said to her, Stand in the door of
the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you,
and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. {4:21} Then
Ya`el Hever's wife took a tent-pin, 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. {4:22} Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Ya`el 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-pin was in his temples. {4:23} So God subdued on that day Yavin
the king of Kana`an before the children of Yisra'el. {4:24} The hand
of the children of Yisra'el prevailed more and more against Yavin the
king of Kana`an, until they had destroyed Yavin king of Kana`an.
{5:1} Then sang Devorah and Barak the son of Avino`am on that day,
saying,
{5:2} For that the leaders took the lead in Yisra'el,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless you the LORD.
{5:3} Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes;
I, [even] I, will sing to the LORD;
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.
{5:4} LORD, when you went forth out of Se`ir,
When you marched out of the field of Edom,
The [1>]eretz[<1] trembled, the sky also dropped,
Yes, the clouds dropped water.
{5:5} The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD,
Even Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.
{5:6} In the days of Shamgar the son of `Anat,
In the days of Ya`el, the highways were unoccupied,
The travelers walked through byways.
{5:7} The rulers ceased in Yisra'el, they ceased,
Until that I Devorah arose,
That I arose a mother in Yisra'el.
{5:8} They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Yisra'el?
{5:9} My heart is toward the governors of Yisra'el,
Who offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless you the LORD.
{5:10} Tell [of it], you who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
You who walk by the way.
{5:11} Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD,
[Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Yisra'el.
Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.
{5:12} Awake, awake, Devorah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Avino`am.
{5:13} Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people;
The LORD came down for me against the mighty.
{5:14} Out of Efrayim [came down] they whose root is in `Amalek;
After you, Binyamin, among your peoples;
Out of Makhir came down governors,
Out of Zevulun those who handle the marshal's staff.
{5:15} The princes of Yissakhar were with Devorah;
As was Yissakhar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Re'uven
There were great resolves of heart.
{5:16} Why sat you among the sheepfolds,
To hear the whistling for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Re'uven
There were great searchings of heart.
{5:17} Gil`ad abode beyond the Yarden:
Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,
Abode by his creeks.
{5:18} Zevulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death,
Naftali, on the high places of the field.
{5:19} The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Kana`an.
In Ta`nakh by the waters of Megiddo:
They took no gain of money.
{5:20} From the sky the stars fought,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
{5:21} The river Kishon swept them away,
That ancient river, the river Kishon.
My soul, march on with strength.
{5:22} Then did the horse hoofs stamp
By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
{5:23} Curse you Meroz, said the angel of the LORD.
Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it,
Because they didn't come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty.
{5:24} Blessed above women shall Ya`el be,
The wife of Hever the Keni;
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
{5:25} He asked water, [and] she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
{5:26} She put her hand to the tent-pin,
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.
{5:27} At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
At her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
{5:28} Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice,
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?
{5:29} Her wise ladies answered her,
Yes, she returned answer to herself,
{5:30} 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?
{5:31} So let all your enemies perish, LORD:
But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his
might.
The land had rest forty years.
{6:1} The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight
of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midyan seven
years. {6:2} The hand of Midyan prevailed against Yisra'el; and
because of Midyan the children of Yisra'el made them the dens which
are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. {6:3} So it
was, when Yisra'el had sown, that the Midyanim came up, and the
`Amaleki, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
{6:4} and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of
the [1>]eretz[<1], until you come to `Aza, and left no sustenance in
Yisra'el, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. {6:5} For they came up
with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for
multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they
came into the land to destroy it. {6:6} Yisra'el was brought very low
because of Midyan; and the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD.
{6:7} It happened, when the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD
because of Midyan, {6:8} that the LORD sent a prophet to the children
of Yisra'el: and he said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of
Yisra'el, I brought you up from Mitzrayim, and brought you forth out
of the house of bondage; {6:9} and I delivered you out of the hand of
the Mitzrim, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove
them out from before you, and gave you their land; {6:10} and I said
to you, I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the
Amori, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice.
{6:11} The angel of the LORD came, and sat under the oak which was in
Ofrat, that pertained to Yo'ash the Avi-Ezri: and his son Gid`on was
beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midyanim.
{6:12} The angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, the
LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor. {6:13} Gid`on said to him,
Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to
us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of,
saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Mitzrayim? but now the LORD
has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midyan. {6:14} The
LORD looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Yisra'el
from the hand of Midyan: have not I sent you? {6:15} He said to him,
Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Yisra'el? behold, my family is the
poorest in Menashsheh, and I am the least in my father's house. {6:16}
The LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike
the Midyanim as one man. {6:17} He said to him, If now I have found
favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with
me. {6:18} Please don't go away, until I come to you, and bring out my
present, and lay it before you. He said, I will wait until you come
again. {6:19} Gid`on went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened
cakes of an efah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the
broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented
it. {6:20} The angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the
unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.
He did so. {6:21} Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the
staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened
cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh
and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD departed out of
his sight. {6:22} Gid`on saw that he was the angel of the LORD; and
Gid`on said, Alas, Lord GOD! because I have seen the angel of the LORD
face to face. {6:23} The LORD said to him, Shalom be to you; don't be
afraid: you shall not die. {6:24} Then Gid`on built an altar there to
the LORD, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ofrat
of the Abiezrites. {6:25} It happened the same night, that the LORD
said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years
old, and throw down the altar of Ba`al that your father has, and cut
down the Asherah that is by it; {6:26} and build an altar to the LORD
your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and
take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the
Asherah which you shall cut down. {6:27} Then Gid`on took ten men of
his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken to him: and it happened,
because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so
that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. {6:28} When
the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of
Ba`al was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it,
and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. {6:29}
They said one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired
and asked, they said, Gid`on the son of Yo'ash has done this thing.
{6:30} Then the men of the city said to Yo'ash, Bring out your son,
that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Ba`al, and
because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it. {6:31} Yo'ash said
to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Ba`al? Or will you
save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while
[it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself,
because one has broken down his altar. {6:32} Therefore on that day he
named him Yerubba`al, saying, Let Ba`al contend against him, because
he has broken down his altar. {6:33} Then all the Midyanim and the
`Amaleki and the children of the east assembled themselves together;
and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Yizre`el. {6:34}
But the Spirit of the LORD came on Gid`on; and he blew a
[2>]shofar[<2]; and Avi-Ezer was gathered together after him. {6:35}
He sent messengers throughout all Menashsheh; and they also were
gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to
Zevulun, and to Naftali; and they came up to meet them. {6:36} Gid`on
said to God, If you will save Yisra'el by my hand, as you have spoken,
{6:37} behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if
there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then
shall I know that you will save Yisra'el by my hand, as you have
spoken. {6:38} It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and
pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a
bowl full of water. {6:39} Gid`on said to God, Don't let your anger be
kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: Please let me make
a trial just this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the
fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew. {6:40} God did so that
night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the
ground.
________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
[1] {5:4} earth
[1] {6:4} earth
[2] {6:34} trumpet
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