The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

and there went up ten thousand men at his feet; and Deborah went up with him.

      ¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had severed himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as Elon-bezaanannim, which is by Kedesh.

      ¹²And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. ¹³And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth-goiim, unto the brook Kishon. ¹⁴And Deborah said unto Barak: 'Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thy hand; is not the Lord gone out before thee?' So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. ¹⁵And the Lord discomfited 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. ¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth-goiim; and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left.

      ¹⁷Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him: 'Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not.' And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹And he said unto her: 'Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.' And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. ²⁰And he said unto her: 'Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say: Is there any man here? that thou shalt say: No.' ²¹Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. ²²And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him: 'Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.' And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples. ²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. ²⁴And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

       5Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying:

      ²When men let grow their hair in Israel,When the people offer themselves willingly,Bless ye the Lord.³Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;I, unto the Lord will I sing;I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁴Lord, when Thou didst go forth out of Seir,When Thou didst march out of the field of Edom,The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,Yea, the clouds dropped water.⁵The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord,Even yon Sinai at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁶In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,In the days of Jael, the highways ceased,And the travellers walked through byways.⁷The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,Until that thou didst arise, Deborah,That thou didst arise a mother in Israel.⁸They chose new gods;Then was war in the gates;Was there a shield or spear seenAmong forty thousand in Israel?⁹My heart is toward the governors of Israel,That offered themselves willingly among the people.Bless ye the Lord.¹⁰Ye that ride on white asses,Ye that sit on rich cloths,And ye that walk by the way, tell of it;¹¹Louder than the voice of archers, by the watering-troughs!There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord,Even the righteous acts of His rulers in Israel.Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates. ¹²Awake, awake, Deborah;Awake, awake, utter a song;Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.¹³Then made He a remnant to have dominion over the nobles and the people;The Lord made me have dominion over the mighty.¹⁴Out of Ephraim came they whose root is in Amalek;After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;Out of Machir came down governors,And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.¹⁵And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;As was Issachar, so was Barak;Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.Among the divisions of ReubenThere were great resolves of heart.¹⁶Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds,To hear the pipings for the flocks?At the divisions of ReubenThere were great searchings of heart.¹⁷Gilead abode beyond the Jordan;And Dan, why doth he sojourn by the ships?Asher dwelt at the shore of the sea,And abideth by its bays.¹⁸Zebulun is a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death,And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field. ¹⁹The kings came, they fought;Then fought the kings of Canaan,In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;They took no gain of money.²⁰They fought from heaven,The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.²¹The brook Kishon swept them away,That ancient brook, the brook Kishon.O my soul, tread them down with strength.²²Then did the horsehoofs stampBy reason of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.²³'Curse ye Meroz', said the angel of the Lord,'Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,Because they came not to the help of the Lord,To the help of the Lord against the mighty.'²⁴Blessed above women shall Jael be,The wife of Heber the Kenite,Above women in the tent shall she be blessed.²⁵Water he asked, milk she gave him;In a lordly bowl she brought him curd.²⁶Her hand she put to the tent-pin,And her right hand to the workmen's hammer;And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head,Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.²⁷At her feet he sunk, he fell, he lay;At her feet he sunk, he fell;Where he sunk, there he fell down dead. ²⁸Through the window she looked forth, and peered,The mother of Sisera, through the lattice:'Why is his chariot so long in coming?Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?²⁹The wisest of her princesses answer her,Yea, she returneth answer to herself:³⁰'Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?A damsel, two damsels to every man;To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments,A spoil of dyed garments of embroidery,Two dyed garments of broidery for the neck of every spoiler?' ³¹So perish all Thine enemies, O Lord;But they that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.

      And the land had rest forty years.

      6And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ²And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. ³And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; ⁴and they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. ⁵For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

      ⁷And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of Midian, ⁸that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel; and he said unto them: 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; ⁹and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. ¹⁰And I said unto you: I am the Lord your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye have not hearkened unto My voice.'

¹¹And the angel of the Lord came, and sat under the terebinth which was in Ophrah, that belonged unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him: 'The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.' ¹³And Gideon said unto him: 'Oh, my lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying: Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.' ¹⁴And the Lord turned towards him, and said: 'Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian; have not I sent thee?' ¹⁵And he said unto him: 'Oh, my lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the