Font Size
Judges 3-5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Judges 3-5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lord Tests Israel
3 These are the nations the Lord left in order to test Israel, since the Israelites had fought none of these in[a] any of the wars with Canaan.(A) 2 This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.[b] 3 These nations included: the five rulers(B) of the Philistines(C) and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians,(D) and the Hivites(E) who lived in the Lebanese mountains[c] from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.[d] 4 The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands He had given their fathers through[e] Moses.(F) 5 But they settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 6 The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.(G)
Othniel, the First Judge
7 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; they forgot the Lord their God(H) and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He sold them to[f] Cushan-rishathaim[g] king of Aram-naharaim,[h](I) and the Israelites served him eight years.
9 The Israelites cried out to the Lord.(J) So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother,(K) as a deliverer(L) to save the Israelites. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. 11 Then the land was peaceful(M) 40 years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Ehud
12 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He gave Eglon king of Moab(N) power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 13 After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.[i](O) 14 The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab 18 years.
15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed(P) Benjaminite,[j] as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him to Eglon king of Moab with tribute(Q) money.
16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword 18 inches long.[k] He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes 17 and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. 18 When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 19 At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king called for silence, and all his attendants left him. 20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his room upstairs where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne.[l] 21 Ehud[m] reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 22 Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s insides came out. 23 Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.
24 Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself[n] in the cool room. 25 The servants waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!
26 Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He crossed over the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah. 27 After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. 28 He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.(R) 29 At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites, all strong and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. 30 Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land was peaceful 80 years.
Shamgar
31 After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He delivered Israel by striking down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
Deborah and Barak
4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud had died. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin(S) king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.(T) The commander of his forces was Sisera(U) who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.[o] 3 Then the Israelites cried out(V) to the Lord, because Jabin had 900 iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them 20 years.
4 Deborah, a woman who was a prophetess(W) and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 It was her custom to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her for judgment.(X)
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel,(Y) commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor,(Z) and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites(AA) and Zebulunites?(AB) 7 Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s forces, his chariots, and his army at the Wadi Kishon(AC) to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’”(AD)
8 Barak 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 “I will go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; 10,000 men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab,(AE) Moses’ father-in-law,(AF) and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim,(AG) which was near Kedesh.
12 It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera summoned all his 900 iron chariots and all the people who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations[p] to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Move on, for this is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.
15 The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into confusion(AH) with the sword before Barak. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations,[q] and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
17 Meanwhile, 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 family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 20 Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.
22 When 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 looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!
23 That day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 The power of the Israelites continued to increase against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.
Deborah’s Song
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:
2 When the leaders lead[r] in Israel,
when the people volunteer,
praise the Lord.
3 Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes!
I will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when You came from Seir,(AI)
when You marched from the fields of Edom,
the earth trembled,(AJ)
the heavens poured(AK) rain,
and the clouds poured water.
5 The mountains melted before the Lord,
even Sinai[s] before the Lord, the God of Israel.(AL)
6 In the days of Shamgar(AM) son of Anath,
in the days of Jael,(AN)
the main ways were deserted
because travelers kept to the side roads.
7 Villages were deserted,[t]
they were deserted in Israel,
until I, Deborah,[u] arose,
a mother in Israel.
8 Israel chose new gods,
then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or spear was seen
among 40,000 in Israel.
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Praise the Lord!
10 You who ride on white[v] donkeys,
who sit on saddle blankets,
and who travel on the road, give praise!
11 Let them tell the righteous acts(AO) of the Lord,
the righteous deeds of His warriors in Israel,
with the voices of the singers at the watering places.[w]
Then the Lord’s people went down to the gates.
12 “Awake! Awake, Deborah!
Awake! Awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak,
and take hold of your captives,
son of Abinoam!”
13 The survivors(AP) came down to the nobles;(AQ)
the Lord’s people came down to me[x] with the warriors.
14 Those with their roots in Amalek[y] came from Ephraim;
Benjamin came with your people after you.
The leaders came down from Machir,(AR)
and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
Issachar was with Barak.
They set out at his heels(AS) in the valley.
There was great searching[z] of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds
listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks?
There was great searching of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
17 Gilead(AT) remained beyond the Jordan.
Dan, why did you linger at the ships?
Asher remained at the seashore
and stayed in his harbors.
18 Zebulun was a people risking their lives,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
19 Kings came and fought.
Then the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,
but they took no spoil of silver.
20 The stars fought from the heavens;
the stars fought with Sisera from their courses.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,(AU)
the ancient river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul, in strength!
22 The horses’ hooves then hammered—
the galloping, galloping of his[aa] stallions.
23 “Curse Meroz,” says the Angel of the Lord,
“Bitterly curse her inhabitants,
for they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty warriors.”
24 Jael is most blessed of women,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water; she gave him milk.
She brought him curdled milk(AV) in a majestic bowl.
26 She reached for a tent peg,
her right hand, for a workman’s mallet.
Then she hammered Sisera—
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 He collapsed, he fell, he lay down at[ab] her feet;
he collapsed, he fell at her feet;
where he collapsed, there he fell—dead.
28 Sisera’s mother looked through the window;
she peered through the lattice, crying out:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses?”[ac]
29 Her wisest princesses answer her;
she even answers herself:[ad]
30 “Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—
a girl or two for each warrior,
the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,
the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?”[ae]
31 Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.[af]
But may those who love Him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
And the land was peaceful 40 years.
Footnotes
- Judges 3:1 Lit had known
- Judges 3:2 Lit not known it
- Judges 3:3 LXX reads in Lebanon
- Judges 3:3 Or as Lebo-hamath
- Judges 3:4 Lit by the hand of
- Judges 3:8 Lit into the hand of
- Judges 3:8 Lit Doubly-Evil
- Judges 3:8 = Mesopotamia
- Judges 3:13 = Jericho; Dt 34:3; Jdg 1:16; 2Ch 28:15
- Judges 3:15 = son of the right hand
- Judges 3:16 Lit sword a gomed in length
- Judges 3:20 LXX reads “A word of my God for you, O king,” and Eglon rose up from the throne near him.
- Judges 3:21 LXX reads It happened that when he rose up, Ehud immediately
- Judges 3:24 Lit was covering his feet
- Judges 4:2 Or Harosheth-ha-goiim
- Judges 4:13 Or Harosheth-ha-goiim
- Judges 4:16 Or Harosheth-ha-goiim
- Judges 5:2 Or the locks of hair are loose
- Judges 5:5 Or Lord, this [One of] Sinai
- Judges 5:7 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:7 Or you
- Judges 5:10 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:11 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:13 LXX reads down for him
- Judges 5:14 LXX reads in the valley
- Judges 5:15 Some Hb mss, Syr read There were great resolves
- Judges 5:22 = Sisera’s
- Judges 5:27 Lit between
- Judges 5:28 Lit Why have the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed
- Judges 5:29 Lit answers her words
- Judges 5:30 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:31 Lit perish in this way
Judges 3-5
New International Version
Judges 3-5
New International Version
3 These are the nations the Lord left to test(A) all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five(B) rulers of the Philistines,(C) all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites(D) living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon(E) to Lebo Hamath.(F) 4 They were left to test(G) the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 The Israelites lived(H) among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,(I) Hivites and Jebusites.(J) 6 They took their daughters(K) in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.(L)
Othniel
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord(M) their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.(N) 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold(O) them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim(P) king of Aram Naharaim,[a](Q) to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out(R) to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer,(S) Othniel(T) son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him,(U) so that he became Israel’s judge[b] and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim(V) king of Aram(W) into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace(X) for forty years,(Y) until Othniel son of Kenaz(Z) died.
Ehud
12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,(AA) and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab(AB) power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites(AC) and Amalekites(AD) to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.[c](AE) 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab(AF) for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer(AG)—Ehud(AH), a left-handed(AI) man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute(AJ) to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud(AK) had made a double-edged sword about a cubit[d] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute(AL) to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.(AM) 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. 19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”
The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace[e](AN) and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose(AO) from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword(AP) from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch[f]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself(AQ) in the inner room of the palace.” 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment,(AR) but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet(AS) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the Lord has given Moab,(AT) your enemy, into your hands.(AU)” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan(AV) that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. 30 That day Moab(AW) was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace(AX) for eighty years.
Shamgar
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,(AY) who struck down six hundred(AZ) Philistines(BA) with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
Deborah
4 Again the Israelites did evil(BB) in the eyes of the Lord,(BC) now that Ehud(BD) was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them(BE) into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.(BF) Sisera,(BG) the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron(BH) and had cruelly oppressed(BI) the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
4 Now Deborah,(BJ) a prophet,(BK) the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[g] Israel at that time. 5 She held court(BL) under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah(BM) and Bethel(BN) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam(BO) from Kedesh(BP) in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali(BQ) and Zebulun(BR) and lead them up to Mount Tabor.(BS) 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s(BT) army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River(BU) and give him into your hands.(BV)’”
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.(BW) 10 There Barak summoned(BX) Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites,(BY) the descendants of Hobab,(BZ) Moses’ brother-in-law,[h] and pitched his tent by the great tree(CA) in Zaanannim(CB) near Kedesh.
12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,(CC) 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River(CD) all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.(CE)
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.(CF) Has not the Lord gone ahead(CG) of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed(CH) Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.(CI) 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,(CJ) the wife of Heber the Kenite,(CK) because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor(CL) and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael(CM) went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,(CN) gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”
21 But Jael,(CO) Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,(CP) exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.(CQ)
22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael(CR) went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.(CS)
23 On that day God subdued(CT) Jabin(CU) king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.(CV)
The Song of Deborah
5 On that day Deborah(CW) and Barak son of Abinoam(CX) sang this song:(CY)
2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer(CZ) themselves—
praise the Lord!(DA)
3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to[i] the Lord;(DB)
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.(DC)
4 “When you, Lord, went out(DD) from Seir,(DE)
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,(DF) the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.(DG)
5 The mountains quaked(DH) before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,(DI)
in the days of Jael,(DJ) the highways(DK) were abandoned;
travelers took to winding paths.(DL)
7 Villagers in Israel would not fight;
they held back until I, Deborah,(DM) arose,
until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 God chose new leaders(DN)
when war came to the city gates,(DO)
but not a shield or spear(DP) was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the willing volunteers(DQ) among the people.
Praise the Lord!
10 “You who ride on white donkeys,(DR)
sitting on your saddle blankets,
and you who walk along the road,
consider 11 the voice of the singers[j] at the watering places.
They recite the victories(DS) of the Lord,
the victories of his villagers in Israel.
“Then the people of the Lord
went down to the city gates.(DT)
12 ‘Wake up,(DU) wake up, Deborah!(DV)
Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!(DW)
Take captive your captives,(DX) son of Abinoam.’
13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;
the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14 Some came from Ephraim,(DY) whose roots were in Amalek;(DZ)
Benjamin(EA) was with the people who followed you.
From Makir(EB) captains came down,
from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s[k] staff.
15 The princes of Issachar(EC) were with Deborah;(ED)
yes, Issachar was with Barak,(EE)
sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
16 Why did you stay among the sheep pens[l](EF)
to hear the whistling for the flocks?(EG)
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
17 Gilead(EH) stayed beyond the Jordan.
And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher(EI) remained on the coast(EJ)
and stayed in his coves.
18 The people of Zebulun(EK) risked their very lives;
so did Naphtali(EL) on the terraced fields.(EM)
19 “Kings came(EN), they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,(EO)
they took no plunder of silver.(EP)
20 From the heavens(EQ) the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon(ER) swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!(ES)
22 Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.(ET)
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.
‘Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty.’
24 “Most blessed of women(EU) be Jael,(EV)
the wife of Heber the Kenite,(EW)
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;(EX)
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.(EY)
27 At her feet he sank,
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell—dead(EZ).
28 “Through the window(FA) peered Sisera’s mother;
behind the lattice she cried out,(FB)
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her;
indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:(FC)
a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
colorful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garments(FD) for my neck—
all this as plunder?(FE)’
31 “So may all your enemies perish,(FF) Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sun(FG)
when it rises in its strength.”(FH)
Then the land had peace(FI) forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 3:8 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
- Judges 3:10 Or leader
- Judges 3:13 That is, Jericho
- Judges 3:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
- Judges 3:20 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verse 24.
- Judges 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 4:4 Traditionally judging
- Judges 4:11 Or father-in-law
- Judges 5:3 Or of
- Judges 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.