somewhat like a man; and Åsh-e'rah was the name given to the one that looked like a woman. These images were set up in groves and on hills by the Ca'nǎan-ite people, and to these the Iş'ra-el-ītes bowed down, falling on their faces before them.

The first nation to come from another land against the İş'rael-ītes was the people of Měs-o-pô-ta'mĭ-å, between the great rivers Eu-phra'teş and Tigris on the north. Their king led his army into the land and made the Iş'ra-el-ītes serve him eight years. Then they cried to the Lord, and the Lord sent to them Ŏth'ni-el, who was a younger brother of Ca'leb, of whom we read in Story Five in this Part. He set the people free from the Měs-o-po-ta'mi-ȧns, and ruled them as long as he lived, and kept them faithful to the Lord. Ŏth'ni-el was the first of the judges of İş'ra-el.

But after Ŏth'ni-el died the people again began to worship images, and again fell under the power of their enemies. This time it was the Mō'ab-ites who came against them from the land east of the Dead Sea. Their king at this time was named Eg'lon, and he was very hard in his rule over the İş'ra-el-ītes. Again they cried to the Lord, and God called a man named E'hud, who belonged to the tribe of Ben'ja-min, to set the people free.

E'hůd came one day to visit King Eg'lon, who was ruling over the land. He said:

"I have a present from my people to the king. Let me go into his palace and see him."

They let E'hud into the palace, and he gave to the king a present; then he went out, but soon came back, and said:

"I have a message to the king that no one else can hear. Let me see the king alone."

As he had just brought a present they supposed that he was a friend to the king. Then, too, he had no sword on the side where men carried their swords. But E'hud was left-handed, and he carried on the other side a short, sharp sword which he had made, like a dagger. This sword was out of sight under his garment. He went into the room where King Eg'lon was sitting alone, and said, "I have a message from the Lord to you, and this is the message."

And then he drew out his sword and drove it up to the handle into the king's body so suddenly that the king died without giving a sound. E'hud left the sword in the dead body of the king, and

Ehud Blows a Trumpet

215

went out quietly by the rear door. The servants of the king thought he was asleep in his room, and for a while did not go in to see why he was so still; but when they found him dead E'hud was

far away.

E'hud blew a trumpet and called his people together, and led them against the Mo'ab-ites. They were so helpless without their king that E'hud and his men easily drove them out of Iş'ra-el and set the people free. E'hůd became the second judge over the land. And after that it was many years before enemies again held rule over İş'ra-el.

The next enemies to Iş'ra-el were the Phi-lis'tineş, who lived on the shore of the Great Sea on the west. They came up from the plain against the Iş'ra-el-ītes; but Shăm'gär, the third judge, met them with a company of farmers, who drove the Phi-lis'tineş back with their ox-goads, and so kept them from ruling over the land.

Story Nine

HOW A WOMAN WON A GREAT

VICTORY

Judges iv 1, to v: 31.

GAIN many of the people of Iş'ra-el were drawn away from the worship of the Lord, and began to live like the people around them, praying to idols and doing wickedly. And again the Lord left them to suffer for their sins. A Ca'nǎan-īte king in the north, whose name was Ja'bin, sent his army down to conquer them under the command of his general, named Sis'e-rȧ. In Sis'e-ra's army were many chariots of iron, drawn by horses; while soldiers in the chariots shot arrows and threw spears at the Iş'ra-el-ites. The

men of İş'ra-el were not used to horses, and greatly feared these war-chariots.

All the northern tribes in the land of Iş'ra-el fell under the power of King Ja'bin and his general, Sis'e-rå; and their rule was very harsh and severe. This was the fourth of these "oppressions," and it bore most heavily upon the people in the north. But it led those who suffered from it to turn from their idols, and to call upon the Lord God of İş'ra-el.

At that time a woman was ruling as judge over a large part of the land; the only woman among the fifteen judges who, one after another, ruled the İş'ra-el-ītes. Her name was Deb'o-rah. She sat under a palm-tree north of Jê-ru'să-lěm, between the cities of Ra'mah and Beth'-el, and gave advice to all the people who sought her. So wise and good was Deb'o-rah that men came from all parts of the land with their difficulties and the questions that arose between them. She ruled over the land, not by the force of any army, or by any appointment, but because all men saw that God's spirit was upon her.

Děb'o-rah heard of the troubles of the tribes in the north under the hard rule of the Ca'nǎan-ītes. She knew that a brave man was living in the land of Năph'ta-li, a man named Ba'råk, and to him she sent this message:

"Ba'rak, call out the tribes of Is'ra-el who live near you; raise an army, and lead the men who gather about you to Mount Ta'bôr. The Lord has told me that he will give Sis'e-rȧ and the host of the Ca'nǎan-ītes into your hands."

But Ba'răk felt afraid to undertake alone this great work of setting his people free. He sent back to Deb'o-rah this answer: "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.'

"I will go with you," said Deb'o-rah; “but because you did not trust God, and did not go when God called you, the honor of this war will not be yours, for God will deliver Sis'e-rà into the hands of a woman."

Děb'o-rah left her seat under the palm-tree and went up to Ke'desh, where Ba'răk lived. Together Děb'o-rah and Ba'răk sent out a call for the men of the north, and ten thousand men met together with such arms as they could find. This little army, with a woman for its chief, encamped on Mount Ta'bôr, which is one of

Victory Over the Canaanites

217

three mountains standing in a row on the east of a great plain called "the plain of Es-dra-e'lon," "the plain of Jez're-el," and "the plain of Me-gid'do,"-for it bears all these three names. On this plain, both in Bible times and also in the times since the Bible, many great battles have

been fought. Over this plain winds the brook Kí'shon, which

at some seasons, after heavy rain, becomes a foaming, rushing river.

From their

camp on the top of Mount Ta'bôr the little army of İş'ra-el could look down on the great host of Ca'nă a nites with their many tents,

their horses

and chariots, and their general, Sis'e-rå.

But Děb'o-rah

was not afraid.

She said to

Ba'rǎk:

"March

down the mountain with all your men, and fight the Ca'nǎan-ītes. The Lord will go before you, and he will give Sis'e-rå and his host into your hand."

Then Ba'răk blew a trumpet and called out his men. They ran down the side of Mount Ta'bôr and rushed upon their enemies.

The Ca'nǎan-ītes were taken so suddenly that they had no time to draw out their chariots. They were frightened and ran away, trampling each other under foot, chariots and horses and men in a wild flight.

And the Lord helped the Iş'ra-el-ites; for at that time the brook Ki'shon was swollen into a river, and the Ca'nǎan-ites crowded after each other into it. While many were killed in the battle, many were also drowned in the river.

Sis'e-rȧ, the general of the Ca'nǎan-ites, saw that the battle had gone against him and that all was lost. He leaped from his chariot and fled away on foot. On the edge of the plain he found a tent standing alone, and he ran to it for shelter and hiding.

It was the tent of a man named He'ber, and He'ber's wife, Ja'el, was in front of it. She knew Sis'e-rȧ, and said to him, "Come in, my lord; come into the tent; do not be afraid."

Sis'e-rȧ entered the tent, and Ja'el covered him with a rug, so that no enemy might find him. Sis'e-rà said to her, "I am very thirsty; can you give me a little water to drink?"

Instead of water she brought out a bottle of milk and gave him some: and then Sis'e-rà lay down to sleep, for he was very tired from the battle and from running. While he was in a deep sleep, Ja'el crept into the tent quietly with a tent-pin and a hammer in her hand. She placed the point of the pin upon the side of his head, near his ear, and with the hammer gave blow after blow, driving it into his brain and through his head until it went into the ground underneath. After a moment's struggle Sis'e-rå was dead, and she left his body upon the ground.

In a little time Ja'el saw Ba'răk, the chief of the İş'ra-el-îte army, coming toward the tent. She went out to meet him, and said, "Come with me, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking."

She lifted the curtain of the tent, and led Ba'răk within; and there he saw lying dead upon the ground the mighty Sis'e-rȧ, who only the day before had led the army of the Ca'nǎan-ītes.

That was a terrible deed which Ja'el did. We should call it treachery and murder; but such was the bitter hate between İş'ra-el-ite and Ca'nǎan-ite at that time that all the people gave great honor to Ja'el on account of it, for by that act she had set the people free from the king who had been oppressing Iş'ra-el. After this the land had rest for many years.