Judges:3-4
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Now these are the nations which the LORD left ,
to prove Israel by them ,
even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan ;
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Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know ,
to teach them war ,
at the least such as before knew nothing thereof ;
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Namely ,
five lords of the Philistines ,
and all the Canaanites ,
and the Sidonians ,
and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon ,
from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath .
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And they were to prove Israel by them ,
to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD ,
which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses .
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And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites ,
Hittites ,
and Amorites ,
and Perizzites ,
and Hivites ,
and Jebusites :
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And they took their daughters to be their wives ,
and gave their daughters to their sons ,
and served their gods .
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And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and forgat the LORD their God ,
and served Baalim and the groves .
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Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel ,
and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia :
and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years .
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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 .
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And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him ,
and he judged Israel ,
and went out to war :
and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand ;
and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim .
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And the land had rest forty years .
And Othniel the son of Kenaz died .
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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 .
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And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek ,
and went and smote Israel ,
and possessed the city of palm trees .
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So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years .
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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 lefthanded :
and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab .
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But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges ,
of a cubit length ;
and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh .
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And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab :
and Eglon was a very fat man .
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And when he had made an end to offer the present ,
he sent away the people that bare the present .
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But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal ,
and said ,
I have a secret errand unto thee ,
O king :
who said ,
Keep silence .
And all that stood by him went out from him .
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And Ehud came unto him ;
and he was sitting in a summer parlour ,
which he had for himself alone .
And Ehud said ,
I have a message from God unto thee .
And he arose out of his seat .
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And Ehud put forth his left hand ,
and took the dagger from his right thigh ,
and thrust it into his belly :
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And the haft also went in after the blade ;
and the fat closed upon the blade ,
so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly ;
and the dirt came out .
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Then Ehud went forth through the porch ,
and shut the doors of the parlour upon him ,
and locked them .
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When he was gone out ,
his servants came ;
and when they saw that ,
behold ,
the doors of the parlour were locked ,
they said ,
Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber .
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And they tarried till they were ashamed :
and ,
behold ,
he opened not the doors of the parlour ;
therefore they took a key ,
and opened them :
and ,
behold ,
their lord was fallen down dead on the earth .
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And Ehud escaped while they tarried ,
and passed beyond the quarries ,
and escaped unto Seirath .
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And it came to pass ,
when he was come ,
that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim ,
and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount ,
and he before them .
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And he said unto them ,
Follow after me :
for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand .
And they went down after him ,
and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab ,
and suffered not a man to pass over .
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And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men ,
all lusty ,
and all men of valour ;
and there escaped not a man .
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So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel .
And the land had rest fourscore years .
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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 .
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And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
when Ehud was dead .
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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 .
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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 .
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And Deborah ,
a prophetess ,
the wife of Lapidoth ,
she judged Israel at that time .
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And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim :
and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment .
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And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali ,
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 ?
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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 .
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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 .
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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 hand of a woman .
And Deborah arose ,
and went with Barak to Kedesh .
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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 .
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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 .
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And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Again he said unto her ,
Stand in the door of the tent ,
and it shall be ,
when any man doth come and enquire of thee ,
and say ,
Is there any man here ?
that thou shalt say ,
No .
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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 .
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And ,
behold ,
as Barak pursued Sisera ,
Jael came out to meet him ,
and said unto him ,
Come ,
and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest .
And when he came into her tent ,
behold ,
Sisera lay dead ,
and the nail was in his temples .
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So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel .
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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 .
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Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day ,
saying ,