stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
[21] The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river,
the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
[22] Then were the horsehoofs broken
by the means of the pransings, the pransings 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.
[24] Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the
Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
[25] He asked water, and she gave him milk; she
brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
[26] She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's
hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and
stricken through his temples.
[27] At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he
fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
[28] The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and
cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
[29]
Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
[30] Have they not sped? have they
not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers
colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that
take the spoil?
[31] So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun
when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
Judg.6
[1] 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.
[2] 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 strong holds.
[3]
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;
[4] And they encamped against them, and destroyed the
increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor
ox, nor ass.
[5] 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.
[6] And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto
the LORD.
[7] And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
[8]
That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
[9] And
I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and
drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
[10] And I said unto you, I am the LORD your
God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
[11]
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.
[12]
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty
man of valour.
[13] And Gideon said unto him, Oh 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.
[14]
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?
[15] And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save
Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
[16] And the
LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
[17]
And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with
me.
[18] 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.
[19] 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 brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
[20] And the angel of God said unto
him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth.
And he did so.
[21] Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and
touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the
flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
[22] And when
Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I