I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. They will sell them to the people of Sheba, a nation that is far away.” The Lord has spoken.
The descendants of those who oppress you will bow in front of you. All who despise you will bow at your feet. They will call you the city of the Lord, Zion, the city of the Holy One of Israel.
That is why everyone who devours you will be devoured, and all your enemies will be taken away as captives. Those who looted you will be looted. Those who stole from you in war will have things stolen from them.
Incense that comes from Sheba is no good to me. Sugar cane that comes from a distant land is no good to me. I won’t accept your burnt offerings. I’m not pleased with your sacrifices.
“I heard the noise from a carefree crowd. A large number of people came from the desert, and they put bracelets on the women’s wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
“ ‘Sheba, Dedan, the merchants from Tarshish, and all their villages will ask you, “Did you come to rob these people of their possessions? Did you assemble all these soldiers to carry away large amounts of silver and gold and to take cattle and property?” ’
How could one person chase a thousand or two people make ten thousand flee? Their rock used these people to defeat them and the Lord gave them no help.
So the Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He handed them over to people who robbed them. He also used their enemies around them to defeat them. They could no longer stand up against their enemies.
So the Lord used King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled at Hazor, to defeat them. The commander of King Jabin’s army was Sisera, who lived at Harosheth Haggoyim.
Deborah replied, “Certainly, I’ll go with you. But you won’t win any honors for the way you’re going about this, because the Lord will use a woman to defeat Sisera.” So Deborah started out for Kedesh with Barak.