Judges 4–5

Deborah and Barak

4And again the Israelites^a did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Ehud died. ²So Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, and he was living in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³And the Israelites^b cried to Yahweh, as he had nine hundred iron chariots,^c and he oppressed the Israelites^d cruelly^e for twenty years.^f

⁴Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging^g Israel. ⁵And she used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites^h went up to her for judgment. ⁶She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? ‘Go, march toⁱ Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants^j of Naphtali and Zebulun. ⁷I will draw out^k Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and troops, to the wadi^l of Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’ ” ⁸Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹She said, “Surely I will go with you; however, there will be no glory for you in the path you are taking,^m for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” And Deborah stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and they went up behind him,ⁿ ten thousand men, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹And Heber the Kenite was separated from the other Kenites,^o that is, from the descendants^p of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And he was encamped^q at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹²When they^r reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, ¹³Sisera summoned all his chariots—all nine hundred chariots^s of iron—and the entire army that was with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi^t of Kishon. ¹⁴And Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! This is the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?” So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. ¹⁵And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion^u before the edge of Barak’s sword;^v and Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot. ¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots^w and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all of Sisera’s army fell to the edge of the sword;^x no one was left.

¹⁷Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid.” So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.^{y 19}And he said to her, “Please, give me a drink of water, because I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin vessel of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. ²⁰And he said to her, “Stand at the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ You must answer, ‘No.’ ” ²¹But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly^z to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he was fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died. ²²And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple. ²³On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.^{a 24}And the hand of the Israelites^b pressed harder^c and harder on Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5And Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day:

²“When long hair hangs loosely in Israel,

when the people willingly offer themselves,

bless Yahweh!

³Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!

I will sing to Yahweh;

I will sing praise to Yahweh,

the God of Israel.

⁴Yahweh, when you went down from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled, the heavens poured down,

the clouds poured down water.

⁵The mountains trembled^a before Yahweh,

this Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,

in the days of Jael, the caravans had ceased,

the travelers,^b they kept to the byways.^c

⁷The warriors^d ceased;

they failed to appear in Israel,

until I,^e Deborah, arose;

I^f arose as a mother in Israel.

⁸God chose new leaders,^g

then war was at the gates;

a small shield or a spear was not seen

among forty thousand in Israel.

⁹My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,

those offering themselves willingly among the people;

bless Yahweh!

¹⁰The riders of white female donkeys,

those sitting on saddle blankets,

and those going on the way, talk about it!

¹¹At the sound of those dividing^h the sheep

among the watering places,

there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh,

the righteous deeds for his warriorsⁱ in Israel.

Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.

¹²“Wake up, wake up, Deborah!

Wake up, wake up, sing a song!

Get up, Barak!

Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.

¹³Then the remnant went down to the nobles;

the people of Yahweh went down for him^j against the mighty.

¹⁴From Ephraim is their root into Amalek,

after you, Benjamin, with your family;

from Makir the commanders went down,

and from Zebulun those carrying the scepter

of the military commander.

¹⁵And the chiefs^k in Issachar were with Deborah;

and Issachar likewise was with Barak;

into the valley he was sent to get him from behind.^l

Among the clans of Reuben

were great decisions of the heart.^m

¹⁶Why do you sit among the sheepfolds,

to hear the calling sounds of the herds?

For the clans of Reuben,

there were great searchings of the heart.

¹⁷Gilead has remainedⁿ beyond the Jordan.

Why did Dan dwell as a foreigner with ships?

Asher sat at the coast of the waters,

and by his coves he has been settling down.

¹⁸Zebulun is a people who scorned death,

and Naphtali, on the heights of the field.

¹⁹“The kings came, they fought;

then the kings of Canaan fought;

at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,

they got no plunder in silver.

²⁰The stars fought from heaven;

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

²¹The wadi^o torrent of Kishon swept them away,

the raging wadi torrent,

the wadi torrent of Kishon.

March on, my soul, with strength!

²²“Then the hooves of the horse beat loudly,

because of galloping, galloping of his stallions.

²³‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of Yahweh;

‘curse bitterly its inhabitants,

because they did not come to the help of Yahweh,

to the help of Yahweh against the mighty.’

²⁴“Most blessed of women is Jael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite;

most blessed is she of women among tent dwellers.

²⁵He asked for water, and she gave milk;

in a drinking bowl for nobles, she brought curds.

²⁶She reached out her hand to the peg,

and her right hand for the workman’s hammer;

and she struck Sisera, crushed his head,

and she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay.

Between her feet he sank down, he fell;

Where he sank down, there he fell—dead.^p

²⁸“Through the window she looked down;

the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice,

‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?

Why do the hoof beats^q of his chariot tarry?’

²⁹The wisest of her ladies answer her;

she also answers the question herself:

³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the plunder?

A bedmate or two bedmates for every man;^r

colorful garments for Sisera,

plunder of colorful garments,^s

beautifully finished colorful garments,

on the neck of the plunderer?’

³¹So may all your enemies perish, O Yahweh,

but those who love him are like the rising sun at its brightest.”

And the land had rest for forty years.