Judges 5
1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 1
2“When the leaders take the lead in Israel, 1 when the people gladly volunteer for war— 1 we praise Yahweh! 1
3Listen, you kings! Pay attention, you leaders! 1 I, I will sing to Yahweh; 1 I will sing praises to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 1
4Yahweh, when you went out from Seir, 1 when you marched from Edom, 1 the earth shook, and the skies also trembled; 1 also the clouds poured down water. 1
5The mountains quaked before the face of Yahweh; 1 even Mount Sinai quaked before the face of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 1
6In the days of Shamgar (son of Anath), 1 in the days of Jael, the main roads were abandoned, 1 and those who walked only used the winding paths. 1
7There were few rural people in Israel, 1 until I, Deborah, arose—arose as a mother in Israel! 1
8When they chose new gods, 1 there was fighting at the city gates 1 and yet there were no shields or spears seen 1 among forty thousand in Israel. 1
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, 1 along with the people who gladly volunteered— 1 we bless Yahweh for them! 1
10Think about this—you who ride on white donkeys 1 sitting on rugs for saddles, 1 and you who walk along the road. 1
11Hear the voices of those who sing at the watering places. 1 There they tell again of Yahweh's righteous deeds, 1 and the righteous actions of his warriors in Israel. 1 Then the people of Yahweh went down to the city gates. 1
12Awake, awake, Deborah! 1 Awake, awake, sing a song! 1 Get up, Barak, and capture your prisoners, you son of Abinoam. 1
13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; 1 the people of Yahweh came down to me with the warriors. 1
14They came from Ephraim, whose root is in Amalek; 1 the people of Benjamin followed you. 1 From Machir commanders came down, 1 and from Zebulun those who carry an officer's staff. 1
15My princes in Issachar were with Deborah; 1 and Issachar was with Barak 1 rushing after him into the valley under his command. 1 Among the clans of Reuben 1 there were great searchings of heart. 1
16Why did you sit between the fireplaces, 1 listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks? 1 As for the clans of Reuben 1 there were great searchings of heart. 1
17Gilead stayed on the other side of the Jordan; 1 and Dan, why did he wander about on ships? 1 Asher remained on the coast 1 and lived close to his harbors. 1
18Zebulun was a tribe who would risk their lives to the point of death, 1 and Naphtali, also, on the field of battle. 1
19The kings came, they fought; 1 the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach 1 by the waters of Megiddo. 1 But they took away no silver as plunder. 1
20From heaven the stars fought, 1 from their paths across the heavens they fought against Sisera. 1
21The Kishon River swept them away, 2 that old river, the Kishon River. 1 March on my soul, be strong! 1
22Then came the sound of horses' hooves— 1 galloping, the galloping of his mighty ones. 1
23'Curse Meroz!' says the angel of Yahweh. 1 'Surely curse its inhabitants!— 1 because they did not come to help Yahweh— 1 to help Yahweh in the battle against the mighty warriors.' 1
24Jael is blessed more than all other women, 1 Jael (the wife of Heber the Kenite), 1 she is more blessed than all the women who live in tents. 1
25The man asked for water, and she gave him milk; 1 she brought him butter in a dish fit for princes. 1
26She put her hand to the tent peg, 1 and her right hand to the workman's hammer; 1 with the hammer she struck Sisera, she crushed his head. 1 She smashed his skull into pieces when she pierced him through the side of his head. 1
27He collapsed between her feet, he fell and he lay there. 1 Between her feet he fell limp. 1 The place he collapsed is where he was violently killed. 1
28Out of a window she looked— 1 the mother of Sisera looked through the lattice and she called out in sadness, 1 'Why has it taken his chariot so long to come? 1 Why have the hoofbeats of the horses that pull his chariots been delayed?' 1
29Her wisest princesses replied, 1 and she gave herself the same answer: 1
30'Have they not found and divided up the plunder? 1 —A womb, two wombs for every man; 1 the plunder of dyed fabric for Sisera, 1 the plunder of dyed fabric embroidered, 1 two pieces of dyed fabric embroidered for the necks of those who plunder?' 1
31So may all your enemies perish, Yahweh! 1 But your friends be like the sun when it rises in its might.” Then the land had peace for forty years.