Judges 5

New International Version

The Song of Deborah

5 On that day Deborah^(A) and Barak son of Abinoam^(B) sang this song:^(C)

²“When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer^(D) themselves—
praise the Lord!^(E)

³“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to^[a] the Lord;^(F)
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.^(G)

⁴“When you, Lord, went out^(H) from Seir,^(I)
    when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,^(J) the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured down water.^(K)
⁵The mountains quaked^(L) before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,^(M)
    in the days of Jael,^(N) the highways^(O) were abandoned;
    travelers took to winding paths.^(P)
⁷Villagers in Israel would not fight;
    they held back until I, Deborah,^(Q) arose,
    until I arose, a mother in Israel.
⁸God chose new leaders^(R)
    when war came to the city gates,^(S)
but not a shield or spear^(T) was seen
    among forty thousand in Israel.
⁹My heart is with Israel’s princes,
    with the willing volunteers^(U) among the people.
    Praise the Lord!

¹⁰“You who ride on white donkeys,^(V)
    sitting on your saddle blankets,
    and you who walk along the road,
consider ¹¹the voice of the singers^[b] at the watering places.
    They recite the victories^(W) of the Lord,
    the victories of his villagers in Israel.

“Then the people of the Lord
    went down to the city gates.^(X)
¹²‘Wake up,^(Y) wake up, Deborah!^(Z)
    Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!^(AA)
    Take captive your captives,^(AB) son of Abinoam.’

¹³“The remnant of the nobles came down;
    the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
¹⁴Some came from Ephraim,^(AC) whose roots were in Amalek;^(AD)
    Benjamin^(AE) was with the people who followed you.
From Makir^(AF) captains came down,
    from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s^[c] staff.
¹⁵The princes of Issachar^(AG) were with Deborah;^(AH)
    yes, Issachar was with Barak,^(AI)
    sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
¹⁶Why did you stay among the sheep pens^[d]^(AJ)
    to hear the whistling for the flocks?^(AK)
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
¹⁷Gilead^(AL) stayed beyond the Jordan.
    And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher^(AM) remained on the coast^(AN)
    and stayed in his coves.
¹⁸The people of Zebulun^(AO) risked their very lives;
    so did Naphtali^(AP) on the terraced fields.^(AQ)

¹⁹“Kings came^(AR), they fought,
    the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,^(AS)
    they took no plunder of silver.^(AT)
²⁰From the heavens^(AU) the stars fought,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹The river Kishon^(AV) swept them away,
    the age-old river, the river Kishon.
    March on, my soul; be strong!^(AW)
²²Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
    galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.^(AX)
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^(AY) be Jael,^(AZ)
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,^(BA)
    most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk;^(BB)
    in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
²⁶Her 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.^(BC)
²⁷At her feet he sank,
    he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
    where he sank, there he fell—dead^(BD).

²⁸“Through the window^(BE) peered Sisera’s mother;
    behind the lattice she cried out,^(BF)
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
²⁹The wisest of her ladies answer her;
    indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:^(BG)
    a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
    colorful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garments^(BH) for my neck—
    all this as plunder?^(BI)’

³¹“So may all your enemies perish,^(BJ) Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sun^(BK)
when it rises in its strength.”^(BL)

Then the land had peace^(BM) forty years.

Footnotes

Judges 5:3 Or of
Judges 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Judges 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Judges 5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags

Jeremiah 18

New International Version

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay^(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,^(B) Israel. ⁷If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,^(C) torn down and destroyed, ⁸and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent^(D) and not inflict on it the disaster^(E) I had planned. ⁹And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built^(F) up and planted, ¹⁰and if it does evil^(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider^(H) the good I had intended to do for it.^(I)

¹¹“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster^(J) for you and devising a plan^(K) against you. So turn^(L) from your evil ways,^(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’^(N) ¹²But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.^(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.^(P)’”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations:
    Who has ever heard anything like this?^(Q)
A most horrible^(R) thing has been done
    by Virgin^(S) Israel.
¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon
    ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
    ever stop flowing?^[a]
¹⁵Yet my people have forgotten^(T) me;
    they burn incense^(U) to worthless idols,^(V)
which made them stumble^(W) in their ways,
    in the ancient paths.^(X)
They made them walk in byways,
    on roads not built up.^(Y)
¹⁶Their land will be an object of horror^(Z)
    and of lasting scorn;^(AA)
all who pass by will be appalled^(AB)
    and will shake their heads.^(AC)
¹⁷Like a wind^(AD) from the east,
    I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face^(AE)
    in the day of their disaster.”

¹⁸They said, “Come, let’s make plans^(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest^(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,^(AH) nor the word from the prophets.^(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues^(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”

¹⁹Listen to me, Lord;
    hear what my accusers^(AK) are saying!
²⁰Should good be repaid with evil?^(AL)
    Yet they have dug a pit^(AM) for me.
Remember that I stood^(AN) before you
    and spoke in their behalf^(AO)
    to turn your wrath away from them.
²¹So give their children over to famine;^(AP)
    hand them over to the power of the sword.^(AQ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;^(AR)
    let their men be put to death,
    their young men^(AS) slain by the sword in battle.
²²Let a cry^(AT) be heard from their houses
    when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit^(AU) to capture me
    and have hidden snares^(AV) for my feet.
²³But you, Lord, know
    all their plots to kill^(AW) me.
Do not forgive^(AX) their crimes
    or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
    deal with them in the time of your anger.^(AY)