Monday in Epiphany

1Verse 1. After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2Verse 2. So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3Verse 3. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. 4Verse 4. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5Verse 5. And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment. 6Verse 6. She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7Verse 7. And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’” 8Verse 8. Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9Verse 9. “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh, 10Verse 10. where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. 11Verse 11. Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh. 12Verse 12. When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor, 13Verse 13. he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon. 14Verse 14. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15Verse 15. And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16Verse 16. Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

10Verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11Verse 11. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12Verse 12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Verse 13. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 14Verse 14. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15Verse 15. and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. 16Verse 16. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Verse 17. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.