Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[a]
he has become my deliverer.”[b]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[c]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[d]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[e]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[f]
18 The Lord severely[g] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[h]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[i]
has become the cornerstone.[j]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![k]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[l]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty.[a] 18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest,[b] my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera[c] stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him. 19 He said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, because I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again. 20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other.[d] She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground[e] while he was asleep from exhaustion,[f] and he died. 22 Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent,[g] and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead[h] with the tent peg through his temple.
23 That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.
24 The most rewarded[a] of women should be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite!
She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.
25 He asked for water,
and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for a king,[b]
she served him curds.
26 Her left[c] hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
She “hammered”[d] Sisera,
she shattered his skull,[e]
she smashed his head,[f]
she drove the tent peg through his temple.[g]
27 Between her feet he collapsed,
he fell limp and was lifeless;[h]
between her feet he collapsed and fell,
in the spot where he collapsed,
there he fell—violently killed![i]
28 Through the window she looked;
Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?
Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot horses[j] delayed?’
29 The wisest of her ladies[k] answer;
indeed she even thinks to herself,
30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder[l]—
a girl or two for each man to rape![m]
Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth,[n]
he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth,[o]
two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,
for the neck of the plunderer!’[p]
31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!
But may those who love you shine
like the rising sun at its brightest.”[q]
And the land had rest for forty years.
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
12 Then[a] a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.[b] 2 She[c] was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling[d] to give birth. 3 Then[e] another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.[f] 4 Now[g] the dragon’s[h] tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then[i] the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 So[j] the woman gave birth to a son, a male child,[k] who is going to rule[l] over all the nations[m] with an iron rod.[n] Her[o] child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and she[p] fled into the wilderness[q] where a place had been prepared for her[r] by God, so she could be taken care of[s] for 1,260 days.
War in Heaven
7 Then[t] war broke out in heaven: Michael[u] and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But[v] the dragon was not strong enough to prevail,[w] so there was no longer any place left[x] in heaven for him and his angels.[y] 9 So[z] that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10 Then[aa] I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
“The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the ruling authority[ab] of his Christ,[ac] have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,[ad]
the one who accuses them day and night[ae] before our God,
has been thrown down.
11 But[af] they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives[ag] so much that they were afraid to die.
12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!
But[ah] woe to the earth and the sea
because the devil has come down to you!
He[ai] is filled with terrible anger,
for he knows that he only has a little time!”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.