them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

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And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen. years.

But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed.

And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also delivered Israel.

And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, 'Hath not the LORD GOD of Israel commanded, saying, "Go ' and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten 'thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the ' children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee to the 'river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with 'his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him ' into thine hand." And Barak said unto her, 'If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.' And she said, 'I will surely go with thee notwithstanding the journey that thou takest 'shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell 'Sisera into the hands of a woman.' And Deborah arose,

and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

And Deborah said unto Barak, 'Up; for this is the day ' in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: ' is not the LORD gone out before thee?' So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. Howbeit 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. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, 'Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear 'not.' And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. And 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. And again he said unto her, 'Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any "Is there

6

man doth come and inquire of thee, and say,

any man here?" that thou shalt say, "No." Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And, 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 when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

So GOD subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. And the land had rest forty years.

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and the LORD delivered them into the hand of

Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come into Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished

because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.' And Gideon said unto him, 'O my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his 'miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, "Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?" but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the 'Midianites.' And the LORD looked upon him, and said—

'Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the 'hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?'

And he said unto him, 'O my Lord, wherewith shall I 'save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and 'I am the least in my father's house.' And the LORD said

unto him

'Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the 'Midianites as one man.'

And he said unto him, 'If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, ' and bring forth my present, and set it before thee.' And he said, 'I will tarry until thou come again.'

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and unto him under the oak, and presented it.

brought it out And the angel