Judges 5
1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:
2When locks go untrimmed in Israel,When people dedicate themselves—Bless GOD!
3Hear, O kings! Give ear, O potentates!I will sing, will sing to GOD,Will hymn the ETERNAL, the God of Israel.
4O GOD, when You came forth from Seir,Advanced from the country of Edom,The earth trembled;The heavens dripped,Yea, the clouds dripped water,
5The mountains quaked as a by-form of nazollu; cf. Targum because of GOD,Yon Sinai, because of GOD—the God of Israel.
6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, In the days of Jael, caravans ceased,And wayfarers wentBy roundabout paths.
7Deliverance ceased,Ceased in Israel,Till you, archaic second-person singular feminine. arose, O Deborah,Arose, O mother, in Israel!
8When they chose new gods,Was there a fighter then in the gates? No shield or spear was seenAmong forty thousand in Israel!
9My heart is with Israel’s leaders,With the dedicated of the people—Bless GOD!
10You riders on tawny jennies,You who sit on saddle rugs,And you wayfarers, declare it!
11Louder than the sound of archers, There among the watering placesLet them chant GOD’s gracious acts—The gracious deliverance of Israel.Then did GOD’s peopleMarch down to the gates!
12Awake, awake, O Deborah!Awake, awake, strike up the chant!Arise, O Barak;Take your captives, O son of Abinoam!
13Then was the remnant made victor over the mighty, GOD ’s people (with pathaḥ) Adonai; so many Heb. mss. won my victory over the warriors.
14From Ephraim came they whose roots are in Amalek;After you, your kin Benjamin;From Machir came down leaders,From Zebulun such as hold the marshal’s staff.
15And Issachar’s chiefs were with Deborah;As Barak, so was Issachar—Rushing after him into the valley.Among the clans of ReubenWere great decisions of heart.
16Why then did you stay among the sheepfoldsAnd listen as they pipe for the flocks?Among the clans of ReubenWere great searchings of heart!
17Gilead tarried beyond the Jordan;And Dan—why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained at the seacoastAnd tarried at his landings.
18Zebulun is a people that mocked at death, Naphtali—on the open heights.
19Then the kings came, they fought:The kings of Canaan foughtAt Taanach, by Megiddo’s waters—They got no spoil of silver.
20The stars fought from heaven,From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21The torrent Kishon swept them away,The raging torrent, the torrent Kishon.March on, my soul, with courage!
22Then the horses’ hoofs poundedAs headlong galloped the steeds.
23“Curse Meroz!” said the angel of GOD.“Bitterly curse its inhabitants,Because they came not to GOD’s aidTo GOD’s aid among the warriors.”
24Most blessed of women be Jael,Wife of Heber the Kenite,Most blessed of women in tents.
25He asked for water, she offered milk;In a princely bowl she brought him curds.
26Her [left] hand reached for the tent pin,Her right for the workmen’s hammer.She struck Sisera, crushed his head,Smashed and pierced his temple.
27At her feet he sank, lay outstretched,At her feet he sank, lay still;Where he sank, there he lay—destroyed.
28Through the window peered Sisera’s mother,Behind the lattice she whined: “Why is his chariot so long in coming?Why so late the clatter of his wheels?”
29The wisest of her ladies give answer;She, too, replies to herself:
30“They must be dividing the spoil they have found:A woman or two for each man,Spoil of dyed cloths for Sisera,Spoil of embroidered cloths,A couple of embroidered clothsRound every neck as spoil.”
31So may all Your enemies perish, O GOD!But may Your friends be as the sun rising in might!And the land was tranquil forty years.