JUDGES
CHAPTER 5

The Song of Deborah

¹ On 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 ^[1] the LORD , I will sing;
I will make music to ^[2] 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.
⁵ The 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.
⁷ Village life ^[3] in Israel ceased,
ceased until I, ^[4] Deborah, arose,
arose a mother in Israel.
⁸ When they chose new gods,
war came to the city gates,
and not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
⁹ My 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 ¹¹ the voice of the singers ^[5] at the watering places.
They recite the righteous acts of the LORD ,
the righteous acts of his warriors ^[6] 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.
¹⁴ Some 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.
¹⁵ The 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.
¹⁶ Why did you stay among the campfires ^[7]
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
¹⁷ Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.
And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher remained on the coast
and stayed in his coves.
¹⁸ The 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.
²⁰ From the heavens the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹ The river Kishon swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!
²² Then 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.
²⁵ He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
²⁶ Her 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.
²⁷ At 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?'
²⁹ The 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.

Footnotes

1. 5:3 Or of
2. 5:3 Or / with song I will praise
3. 5:7 Or Warriors
4. 5:7 Or you
5. 5:11 Or archers ; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
6. 5:11 Or villagers
7. 5:16 Or saddlebags

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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