Judges 5 / 21
- 1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
- 2"When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves- praise the LORD !
- 3"Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD , I will sing; I will make music to the LORD , the God of Israel.
- 4"O LORD , when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
- 5The mountains quaked before the LORD , the One of Sinai, before the LORD , the God of Israel.
- 6"In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.
- 7Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.
- 8When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
- 9My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD !
- 10"You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider
- 11the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD , the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.
- 12'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'
- 13"Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty.
- 14Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff.
- 15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
- 16Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
- 17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.
- 18The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.
- 19"Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder.
- 20From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
- 21The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!
- 22Then thundered the horses' hoofs- galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
- 23'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD . 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD , to help the LORD against the mighty.'
- 24"Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
- 25He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
- 26Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.
- 27At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.
- 28"Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?'
- 29The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
- 30'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck- all this as plunder?'
- 31"So may all your enemies perish, O LORD ! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.