Judges 5

The Song of Deborah

1On that day Deborah sang, with Barak son of Abinoam: 2When locks hang loose in Israel, when the people offer themselves willingly — bless Yahweh! 3Hear, you kings; listen, you rulers. I will sing to Yahweh, I myself will sing; I will make music to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 4Yahweh, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the plains of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. 5The mountains melted before Yahweh, before Yahweh, the God of Israel — even Sinai. 6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers went by roundabout paths. 7Villagers ceased in Israel, they ceased, until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. 8They chose new gods, and war came to the gates. Not a shield, not a spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, to those who offered themselves willingly among the people — bless Yahweh! 10You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, you who walk along the road — consider this! 11Listen to the voices of the singers at the watering places; there they recount the righteous acts of Yahweh, the righteous acts of his villagers in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates. 12Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break into song! Arise, Barak; take your captives, son of Abinoam! 13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of Yahweh came down to me against the mighty. 14From Ephraim came those whose root is in Amalek; after you, Benjamin, among your kinsmen. From Machir came down commanders, and from Zebulun those who carry the marshal’s staff. 15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar stood with Barak, sent into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was much searching of heart. 16Why did you stay among the sheepfolds, listening to the whistling for the flocks? In the clans 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 seacoast, staying by his harbors. 18Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death, Naphtali too, on the heights of the open field. 19Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver. 20From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21The Wadi Kishon swept them away, the ancient wadi, the Wadi Kishon. March on, my soul, with strength! 22Then the horses’ hooves hammered the ground — the galloping, galloping of his stallions. 23“Curse Meroz,” said the angel of Yahweh, “curse its inhabitants bitterly, for they did not come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.” 24Most blessed of women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 25He asked for water, she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled cream. 26She reached her hand for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen’s hammer; she hammered Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. 27Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell — destroyed. 28Through the window she peered, Sisera’s mother wailed through the lattice: “Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?” 29Her wisest ladies answer her, and she repeats to herself: 30“Surely they are finding and dividing the spoil — a girl, two girls for every man; for Sisera, spoil of dyed cloth, spoil of dyed embroidered cloth, a pair of dyed, embroidered pieces for the necks of the plunderers.” 31So may all your enemies perish, Yahweh! But may those who love him be like the sun rising in its strength. And the land had rest for forty years.