Judges 5
Christian Standard Bible
Deborah’s Song
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:
2 When the leaders lead[a] in Israel,
when the people volunteer,
blessed be the Lord.
3 Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes!
I will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you came from Seir,(A)
when you marched from the fields of Edom,
the earth trembled,(B)
the skies poured(C) rain,
and the clouds poured water.
5 The mountains melted before the Lord,
even Sinai,[b] before the Lord, the God of Israel.(D)
6 In the days of Shamgar(E) son of Anath,
in the days of Jael,(F)
the main roads were deserted
because travelers kept to the side roads.
7 Villages were deserted,[c]
they were deserted in Israel,
until I,[d] Deborah, arose,
a mother in Israel.
8 Israel chose new gods,
then there was war in the city gates.
Not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Blessed be the Lord!
10 You who ride on white[e] donkeys,
who sit on saddle blankets,
and who travel on the road, give praise!
11 Let them tell the righteous acts(G) of the Lord,
the righteous deeds of his villagers in Israel,
with the voices of the singers at the watering places.[f]
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.
12 “Awake! Awake, Deborah!
Awake! Awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak,
and take your prisoners,
son of Abinoam!”
13 Then the survivors(H) came down to the nobles;(I)
the Lord’s people came down to me[g] against the warriors.
14 Those with their roots in Amalek[h] came from Ephraim;
Benjamin came with your people after you.
The leaders came down from Machir,(J)
and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
Issachar was with Barak;
they were under his leadership[i](K) in the valley.
There was great searching[j] of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
16 Why did you sit among the sheep pens[k]
listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks?
There was great searching of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
17 Gilead(L) remained beyond the Jordan.
Dan, why did you linger at the ships?
Asher remained at the seashore
and stayed in his harbors.
18 The people of Zebulun defied death,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
19 Kings came and fought.
Then the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo,
but they did not plunder the silver.
20 The stars fought from the heavens;
the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,(M)
the ancient river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul, in strength!
22 The horses’ hooves then hammered—
the galloping, galloping of his[l] stallions.
23 “Curse Meroz,” says the angel of the Lord,
“Bitterly curse her inhabitants,
for they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord with the warriors.”
24 Most blessed of women is Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water; she gave him milk.
She brought him cream(N) in a majestic bowl.
26 She reached for a tent peg,
her right hand, for a workman’s hammer.
Then she hammered Sisera—
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet;
he collapsed, he fell between her feet;
where he collapsed, there he fell—dead.
28 Sisera’s mother looked through the window;
she peered through the lattice, crying out:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses?” [m]
29 Her wisest princesses answer her;
she even answers herself:
30 “Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—
a girl or two[n] for each warrior,
the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,
the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?” [o]
31 Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.[p]
But may those who love him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
And the land had peace for forty years.
Footnotes
- 5:2 Or the locks of hair are loose
- 5:5 Or Lord, this one of Sinai
- 5:7 Hb obscure
- 5:7 Or you
- 5:10 Hb obscure
- 5:11 Hb obscure
- 5:13 LXX reads down for him
- 5:14 LXX reads in the valley
- 5:15 Lit they set out as his feet
- 5:15 Some Hb mss, Syr read There were great resolves
- 5:16 Or the campfires
- 5:22 = Sisera’s
- 5:28 Lit Why have the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed
- 5:30 Lit a womb or two wombs
- 5:30 Hb obscure
- 5:31 Lit perish in this way
Judges 5
Common English Bible
Deborah’s song
5 At that time, Deborah and Barak, Abinoam’s son, sang:
2 When hair is long in Israel,
when people willingly offer themselves—bless the Lord!
3 Hear, kings!
Listen, rulers!
I, to the Lord,
I will sing.
I will make music to the Lord,
Israel’s God.
4 Lord, when you set out from Seir,
when you marched out from Edom’s fields, the land shook,
the sky poured down,
the clouds poured down water.
5 The mountains quaked
before the Lord, the one from Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, Anath’s son,
in the days of Jael, caravans ceased.
Those traveling by road
kept to the backroads.
7 Villagers disappeared;
they disappeared in Israel,
until you,[a] Deborah, arose,
until you arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When they chose new gods,
then war came to the city gates.[b]
Yet there wasn’t a shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel!
9 My heart is with Israel’s commanders,
who willingly offered themselves among the people—bless the Lord!
10 You who ride white donkeys,
who sit on saddle blankets,[c]
who walk along the road: tell of it.
11 To the sound of instruments[d] at the watering places,
there they repeat the Lord’s victories,
his villagers’ victories in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people marched down to the city gates.
12 “Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Arise, Barak!
Capture your prisoners,
Abinoam’s son!”
13 Then those who remained marched down against royalty;
the Lord’s people marched down[e] against warriors.
14 From Ephraim they set out[f] into the valley,[g]
after you, Benjamin, with your people!
From Machir commanders marched down,
and from Zebulun those carrying the official’s staff.
15 The leaders of Issachar came along with Deborah;
Issachar was attached to Barak,
and was sent into the valley behind him.
Among the clans of Reuben
there was deep soul-searching.
16 “Why did you stay back among the sheep pens,
listening to the music for the flocks?”
For the clans of Reuben
there was deep soul-searching.
17 Gilead stayed on the other side of the Jordan,
and Dan, why did he remain with the ships?
Asher stayed by the seacoast,
camping at his harbors.
18 Zebulun is a people that readily risked death;
Naphtali too in the high countryside.
19 Kings came and made war;
the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach by Megiddo’s waters,
but they captured no spoils of silver.
20 The stars fought from the sky;
from their orbits they fought against Sisera.
21 The Kishon River swept them away;
the advancing river, the Kishon River.
March on, my life, with might!
22 Then the horses’ hooves pounded
with the galloping, galloping of their stallions.
23 “Curse Meroz,” says the Lord’s messenger,
“curse its inhabitants bitterly,
because they didn’t come to the Lord’s aid,
to the Lord’s aid against the warriors.”
24 May Jael be blessed above all women;
may the wife of Heber the Kenite
be blessed above all tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she provided milk;
she presented him cream in a majestic bowl.
26 She reached out her hand for the stake,
her strong hand for the worker’s hammer.
She struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his skull.
27 At her feet he sank, fell, and lay flat;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell—dead.
28 Through the window she watched,
Sisera’s mother looked longingly[h] through the lattice.
“Why is his chariot taking so long to come?
Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot horses delayed?”
29 Her wisest attendants answer;
indeed, she replies to herself:
30 “Wouldn’t they be finding and dividing the loot?
A girl or two for each warrior;
loot of colored cloths for Sisera;
loot of colored, embroidered cloths;
two colored, embroidered cloths
as loot for every neck.”
31 May all your enemies perish like this, Lord!
But may your allies be like the sun, rising in its strength.
And the land was peaceful for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:7 Or I
- Judges 5:8 Heb uncertain
- Judges 5:10 Heb uncertain
- Judges 5:11 Heb uncertain
- Judges 5:13 Heb adds for me.
- Judges 5:14 Or From Ephraim their root
- Judges 5:14 LXX; MT in Amalek
- Judges 5:28 LXX; MT cried
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