Chapter 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

1 aThen Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

2 “aThat 1the leaders led in Israel,

That bthe people volunteered,

Bless the Lord!

3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!

aI—to the Lord, I will sing,

I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

4 “aLord, when You went out from Seir,

When You marched from the field of Edom,

bThe earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,

Even the clouds dripped water.

5 “aThe mountains 1quaked at the presence of the Lord,

bThis Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.

6 “In the days of aShamgar the son of Anath,

In the days of bJael, the highways 1were deserted,

And travelers 2went by 3roundabout ways.

7 “The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel,

Until I, Deborah, arose,

Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

8 “aNew gods were chosen;

Then war was in the gates.

Not a shield or a spear was seen

Among forty thousand in Israel.

9 “My heart goes out to athe commanders of Israel,

The volunteers among the people;

Bless the Lord!

10 “aYou who ride on 1white donkeys,

You who sit on rich carpets,

And you who travel on the road—2sing!

11 “At the sound of those who divide flocks among athe watering places,

There they shall recount bthe righteous deeds of the Lord,

The righteous deeds for His 1peasantry in Israel.

Then the people of the Lord went down cto the gates.

12 “aAwake, awake, Deborah;

Awake, awake, 1sing a song!

Arise, Barak, and btake away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

13 “Then survivors came down to the nobles;

The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.

14 “From Ephraim those whose root is ain Amalek came down,

Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;

From Machir commanders came down,

And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of 1office.

15 “And the 1princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

As was Issachar, so was Barak;

Into the valley they rushed aat his 2heels;

Among the divisions of Reuben

There were great resolves of heart.

16 “Why did you sit among athe 1sheepfolds,

To hear the piping for the flocks?

Among the divisions of Reuben

There were great searchings of heart.

17 “aGilead 1remained across the Jordan;

And why did Dan stay in ships?

Asher sat at the seashore,

And 1remained by its landings.

18 “aZebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,

And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

19 “aThe kings came and fought;

Then fought the kings of Canaan

bAt Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;

cThey took no plunder in silver.

20 “aThe stars fought from heaven,

From their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 “The torrent of Kishon swept them away,

The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

aO my soul, march on with strength.

22 “aThen the horses’ hoofs beat

From the dashing, the dashing of his 1valiant steeds.

23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord,

‘Utterly curse its inhabitants;

aBecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,

To the help of the Lord against the warriors.’

24 “aMost blessed of women is Jael,

The wife of Heber the Kenite;

Most blessed is she of women in the tent.

25 “He asked for water and she gave him milk;

In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

26 “She reached out her hand for the tent peg,

And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;

And she shattered and pierced his temple.

27 “Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;

Between her feet he bowed, he fell;

Where he bowed, there he fell 1dead.

28 “Out of the window she looked and lamented,

The mother of Sisera through the 1lattice,

‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?

Why do the 2hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’

29 “Her wise princesses would answer her,

Indeed she repeats her words to herself,

30 ‘aAre they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?

A maiden, two maidens for every warrior;

To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,

A spoil of dyed work embroidered,

Dyed work of double embroidery on the 1neck of the spoiler?’

31 “aThus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord;

bBut let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”

And the land was undisturbed for forty years.