REVOLT AGAINST MOAB. 165 alone in his upper chamber of cooling. And Ehud said: I have a word from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. Now Eglon was a very fat man. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, and he drew not the dagger out of his belly. Then Ehud went forth, and shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him, and locked them. When he was gone out, Eglon's servants came, and looked, and, behold, the doors of the upper chamber were locked. And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper chamber. Then they took the key, and opened them; and, behold, their lord lay on the ground dead. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the outposts, and escaped to the mountains. And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. And he said to the children of Israel: Follow after me; for Jehovah 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. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel; and the land had rest. CHAPTER XIX. JUDGES, iv., v. THE AGE OF ANARCHY-II. THE STORY OF DEBORAH. Now the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah sold them into the hand of Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak son of Abinoam out of Kedesh of Naphtali, and said to him: Hath not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded, saying, Go march to mount Tabor, taking with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will bring out against thee to the river Kishon Sisera, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. And Barak said to her: If thou wilt go with me, I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go. And she said: I will surely go with thee; only the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor, if Jehovah sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. JAEL'S TREACHERY. 167 So Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. Then Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and ten thousand men followed at his feet, and Deborah went up with him. And it was told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river Kishon. And Deborah said to Barak: Up; for this is the day in which Jehovah hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. Is not Jehovah gone out before thee? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak. And Sisera lighted down from 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 by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, the children of Moses' father-in-law; and he pitched his tent as far northward as the Oak of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh. And Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to 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 rug. And he said to 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 he said to her Stand at the door of the tent, and it shall be, if any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. Then 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 and weary; so he died. And, behold, Barak pursuing after Sisera; and Jael came out to meet him, and said to him: Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin in his temples. THE SONG OF DEBORAH. I. For that the leaders led in Israel, Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes; Jehovah, when thou wentest out from Seir, In the days of Shamgar, Anath's son, In the days of Jael, untrodden were the roads, That I arose as mother unto Israel. SONG OF DEBORAH. 169 They choose new chiefs; Then war is at the gates; Nor shield is seen, nor spear Among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is toward the chiefs of Israel, Ye that ride white dappled asses, Ye that sit on carpets, Ye that go on journeys, sing! Gayer than the bowmen's voice among the maidens at the well, They sing Jehovah's righteous acts, Acts of his deliverance toward Israel : The people of Jehovah are gone down to their gates. II. Awake, awake, Deborah ! Awake, awake, uplift the song! Up, Barak, Abinoam's son, lead captive thy captivity! Then went down a remnant of the nobles, Out of Machir went down those that rule, And from Zebulun they that wield the marshal's staff; Issachar's princes with Deborah, As Barak, so Issachar, To the valley following at his feet. |