Judges 5

VIN^{(i) 1} In that day Debbora and Barac, son of Abinoem, sung, and said: ² "When long hair hangs loosely in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, bless the LORD! ³ Hear, O you kings. Listen, O you rulers. I, even I, will sing to the LORD. I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁴ the LORD, 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. ⁵ "The mountains shook before the LORD of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁶ "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted. Travelers used the back roads. ⁷ The leaders ceased in Israel; they ceased until I, Deborah, arose; I arose as a mother in Israel. ⁸ When they chose new gods, the war was at the gates. Was there a shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? ⁹ My heart to the leaders of Israel, Those giving voluntarily among the people: Praise ye the LORD. ¹⁰ "Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on saddle blankets, and you who walk by the way. ¹¹ Far from the noise of archers, in the watering places, there they will recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of His rule in Israel. Then the people of the LORD 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. ¹³ Then the remnant went down to the nobles; the people of the LORD went down for him against the mighty. ¹⁴ Some came from Ephraim who had been harassed by Amalek, followed by Benjamin with your people. Some commanders came from Machir, along with some from Zebulun who carry a badge of office. ¹⁵ And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. ¹⁶ Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there was much searching of heart. ¹⁷ Gil’ad abode beyond the Jordan; and Dan—why would he tarry in ships? Asher remained on the seashore, and abode near his bays. ¹⁸ The people of Zabulon jeoparded their lives to death; And Nephthaleim came to the high places of the field. ¹⁹ Kings came; they fought; then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of silver. ²⁰ From heaven the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera. ²¹ The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. Tread down, O my soul, with strength. ²² Then, stamped hoofs of horses, With the gallopings, gallopings of his mighty steeds. ²³ Curse Meroz, said the angel of the LORD. Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD 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. ²⁵ He asked for water, and she gave milk; in a drinking bowl for nobles, she brought curds. ²⁶ She 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. ²⁷ At her feet he sunk, he fell, he lay; at her feet he sunk, he fell; where he sunk, there he fell down dead. ²⁸ Through the window she looked out. Siseraʼs mother cried out through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?' ²⁹ The 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; colorful garments for Sisera, plunder of colorful garments, beautifully finished colorful garments, on the neck of the plunderer?' ³¹ “So let all your enemies perish, the LORD, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.