Judges 5
Lexham English Bible
The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 And Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day:
2 “When long hair hangs loosely in Israel,
when the people willingly offer themselves,
bless Yahweh!
3 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I will sing to Yahweh;
I will sing praise to Yahweh,
the God of Israel.
4 Yahweh, 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 trembled[a] before Yahweh,
this Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the caravans had ceased,
the travelers,[b] they kept to the byways.[c]
7 The warriors[d] ceased;
they failed to appear in Israel,
until I,[e] Deborah, arose;
I[f] arose as a mother in Israel.
8 God chose new leaders,[g]
then war was at the gates;
a small shield or a spear was not seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
those offering themselves willingly among the people;
bless Yahweh!
10 The riders of white female donkeys,
those sitting on saddle blankets,
and those going on the way, talk about it!
11 At the sound of those dividing[h] the sheep
among the watering places,
there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh,
the righteous deeds for his warriors[i] in Israel.
Then the people of Yahweh 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 Yahweh went down for him[j] against the mighty.
14 From Ephraim is their root into Amalek,
after you, Benjamin, with your family;
from Makir the commanders went down,
and from Zebulun those carrying the scepter
of the military commander.
15 And the chiefs[k] in Issachar were with Deborah;
and Issachar likewise was with Barak;
into the valley he was sent to get him from behind.[l]
Among the clans of Reuben
were great decisions of the heart.[m]
16 Why do you sit among the sheepfolds,
to hear the calling sounds of the herds?
For the clans of Reuben,
there were great searchings of the heart.
17 Gilead has remained[n] beyond the Jordan.
Why did Dan dwell as a foreigner with ships?
Asher sat at the coast of the waters,
and by his coves he has been settling down.
18 Zebulun is a people who scorned death,
and Naphtali, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then the kings of Canaan fought;
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,
they got no plunder in silver.
20 The stars fought from heaven;
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The wadi[o] torrent of Kishon swept them away,
the raging wadi torrent,
the wadi torrent of Kishon.
March on, my soul, with strength!
22 “Then the hooves of the horse beat loudly,
because of galloping, galloping of his stallions.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of Yahweh;
‘curse bitterly its inhabitants,
because they did not come to the help of Yahweh,
to the help of Yahweh 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 Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay.
Between her feet he sank down, he fell;
Where he sank down, there he fell—dead.[p]
28 “Through the window she looked down;
the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?
Why do the hoof beats[q] of his chariot tarry?’
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;[r]
colorful garments for Sisera,
plunder of colorful garments,[s]
beautifully finished colorful garments,
on the neck of the plunderer?’
31 So may all your enemies perish, O Yahweh,
but those who love him are like the rising sun at its brightest.”
And the land had rest for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:5 Or “quaked”
- Judges 5:6 Literally “the ones walking on the paths”
- Judges 5:6 Literally “they went on the crooked roads”
- Judges 5:7 Others interpret this word as referring to the “rural dwellers”
- Judges 5:7 Or “you”
- Judges 5:7 Or “you”
- Judges 5:8 ESV, NRSV translate “when new gods were chosen”
- Judges 5:11 Meaning uncertain; other translations have “archers” (Tanakh), “musicians” (ESV, NRSV) or “singers” (NIV, HCSB)
- Judges 5:11 Hebrew “warrior”
- Judges 5:13 Hebrew “me”
- Judges 5:15 Hebrew “my chiefs”; ancient translations read “the chiefs”
- Judges 5:15 Literally “he was sent at his feet”
- Judges 5:15 Or “thoughts of the heart”
- Judges 5:17 Or “stayed”
- Judges 5:21 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
- Judges 5:27 Literally “devastated”
- Judges 5:28 Or “steps”
- Judges 5:30 Literally “a womb, two wombs for head of every man”
- Judges 5:30 Hebrew “garment”
Judges 5
Holman 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,
praise 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 heavens 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 ways were deserted
because travelers kept to the side roads.
7 Villages were deserted,[c]
they were deserted in Israel,
until I, Deborah,[d] arose,
a mother in Israel.
8 Israel chose new gods,
then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or spear was seen
among 40,000 in Israel.
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Praise 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 warriors in Israel,
with the voices of the singers at the watering places.[f]
Then the Lord’s people went down to the gates.
12 “Awake! Awake, Deborah!
Awake! Awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak,
and take hold of your captives,
son of Abinoam!”
13 The survivors(H) came down to the nobles;(I)
the Lord’s people came down to me[g] with 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 set out at his heels(K) in the valley.
There was great searching[i] of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds
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 Zebulun was a people risking their lives,
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 took no spoil of silver.
20 The stars fought from the heavens;
the stars fought with Sisera from their courses.
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[j] 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 against the mighty warriors.”
24 Jael is most blessed of women,
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 curdled milk(N) in a majestic bowl.
26 She reached for a tent peg,
her right hand, for a workman’s mallet.
Then she hammered Sisera—
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 He collapsed, he fell, he lay down at[k] her feet;
he collapsed, he fell at 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?”[l]
29 Her wisest princesses answer her;
she even answers herself:[m]
30 “Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—
a girl or two for each warrior,
the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,
the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?”[n]
31 Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.[o]
But may those who love Him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
And the land was peaceful 40 years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:2 Or the locks of hair are loose
- Judges 5:5 Or Lord, this [One of] Sinai
- Judges 5:7 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:7 Or you
- Judges 5:10 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:11 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:13 LXX reads down for him
- Judges 5:14 LXX reads in the valley
- Judges 5:15 Some Hb mss, Syr read There were great resolves
- Judges 5:22 = Sisera’s
- Judges 5:27 Lit between
- Judges 5:28 Lit Why have the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed
- Judges 5:29 Lit answers her words
- Judges 5:30 Hb obscure
- Judges 5:31 Lit perish in this way
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