“Listen, you priests. Pay attention, people of Israel. Listen, royal family, because you will all be judged. You have been like a trap at Mizpah and like a net spread out at Mount Tabor.
The King’s name is the Lord All-Powerful. He says, “As surely as I live, a powerful leader will come. He will be like Mount Tabor among the mountains, like Mount Carmel by the sea.
People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message. The Lord has this against you who live in the land: “The people are not true, not loyal to God, nor do those who live in the land even know him.
Elders, listen to this message. Listen to me, all you who live in the land. Nothing like this has ever happened during your lifetime or during your ancestors’ lifetimes.
“The places where Isaac’s descendants worship will be destroyed, Israel’s holy places will be turned into ruins, and I will attack King Jeroboam’s family with the sword.”
All of the faithful people are gone; there is not one good person left in this country. Everyone is waiting to kill someone; everyone is trying to trap someone else.
The Lord All-Powerful says, “A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master.” I am a father, so why don’t you honor me? I am a master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests do not respect me. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown you disrespect?’
Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go and gather ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor.
So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.