Deborah and Barak

¹After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD.

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.

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.

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

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.

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.

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.’”

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“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,

¹⁰where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-lawof Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

¹²When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,

¹³he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.

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.

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.

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.

Jael Kills Sisera

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.

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.

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“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”

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.

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.

²³On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.

²⁴And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

Job’s Character and Wealth

¹There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

²He had seven sons and three daughters,

³and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

⁴Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

Satan’s First Attack

⁶One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satanalso came with them.

⁷“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan.“From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

⁹Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

¹²“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.”Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job Loses His Children and Possessions

¹³One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,

¹⁵the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁹when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

²¹saying:“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,and naked I will return.The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away.Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Job Loses His Health

¹On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satanalso came with them to present himself before Him.

²“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan.“From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

³Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.

⁵But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

⁶“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

⁸And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.

⁹Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? CurseGod and die!”

¹⁰“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?”In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job’s Three Friends

¹¹Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.

¹²When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

¹³Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.

It Is Good to Sing Praises

¹Hallelujah!How good it is to sing praises to our God,how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!

²The LORD builds up Jerusalem;He gathers the exiles of Israel.

³He heals the brokenheartedand binds up their wounds.

⁴He determines the number of the stars;He calls them each by name.

⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;His understanding has no limit.

⁶The LORD sustains the humble,but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;make music on the harp to our God,

⁸who covers the sky with clouds,who prepares rain for the earth,who makes grass to grow on the hills.

⁹He provides food for the animals,and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse;He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him,who hope in His loving devotion.

¹²Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem;praise your God, O Zion!

¹³For He strengthens the bars of your gatesand blesses the children within you.

¹⁴He makes peace at your borders;He fills you with the finest wheat.

¹⁵He sends forth His command to the earth;His word runs swiftly.

¹⁶He spreads the snow like wool;He scatters the frost like ashes;

¹⁷He casts forth His hail like pebbles.Who can withstand His icy blast?

¹⁸He sends forth His word and melts them;He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He declares His word to Jacob,His statutes and judgments to Israel.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation;they do not know His judgments.Hallelujah!