17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of (A)Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a [a]blanket.

19 Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened (B)a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”

21 Then Jael, Heber’s wife, (C)took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 4:18 rug

17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,(A) the wife of Heber the Kenite,(B) because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor(C) and the family of Heber the Kenite.

18 Jael(D) went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,(E) gave him a drink, and covered him up.

20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

21 But Jael,(F) Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,(G) exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.(H)

22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael(I) went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.(J)

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