Judges 5
Legacy Standard Bible
The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 (A)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2 “(B)When [a]the leaders led in Israel,
When (C)the people volunteered,
Bless Yahweh!
3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!
(D)As for me, to Yahweh, I will sing;
I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
4 (E)O Yahweh, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
(F)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Even the clouds dripped water.
5 (G)The mountains [b]flowed at the presence of Yahweh,
(H)This Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (I)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of (J)Jael, the paths had ceased,
So travelers [c]went by [d]roundabout paths.
7 The peasantry ceased; they ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 [e](K)God chose new leaders;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart goes out to (L)the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless Yahweh!
10 (M)You who ride on [f]white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—muse aloud!
11 At the sound of those who divide flocks among (N)the watering places,
There they shall [g]commemorate (O)the righteous deeds of Yahweh,
The righteous deeds for His [h]peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of Yahweh went down (P)to the gates.
12 “(Q)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, [i]utter a song!
Arise, Barak, and (R)take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
13 Then survivors came down to the mighty ones;
The people of Yahweh came down to me as warriors.
14 From Ephraim those whose root is (S)in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of a scribe.
15 And [j]the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed (T)at his [k]heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There was great persistence of the heart.
16 Why did you sit among (U)the [l]sheepfolds,
To hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great probings of the heart.
17 (V)Gilead dwelt across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay in ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And dwelt by its landings.
18 (W)Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,
And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
19 “(X)The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan
(Y)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
(Z)They took no gain of silver.
20 (AA)The stars fought from heaven;
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient river, the river Kishon.
(AB)O my soul, march on with strength.
22 (AC)Then the horses’ hoofs beat
From the dashing, the dashing of his [m]valiant steeds.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of Yahweh,
‘Utterly curse its inhabitants,
(AD)Because they did not come to the help of Yahweh,
To the help of Yahweh against the warriors.’
24 “(AE)Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
In a mighty bowl she brought him curds.
26 She sent forth her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she beat Sisera; she smashed his head,
And she crushed and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell violently devastated.
28 “Out of the window she looked and lamented,
The mother of Sisera through the [n]lattice,
‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the [o]hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’
29 Her wise princesses would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
30 ‘(AF)Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?
A maiden, two maidens for every mighty man;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,
A spoil of dyed work embroidered,
Dyed work of double embroidery on the [p]neck of the spoil?’
31 (AG)Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Yahweh;
(AH)But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
And the land was quiet for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:2 Or locks hung loose in
- Judges 5:5 Or trembled
- Judges 5:6 Lit walked
- Judges 5:6 Lit twisted
- Judges 5:8 Or New gods were chosen
- Judges 5:10 Or tawny
- Judges 5:11 Lit give
- Judges 5:11 Or rural dwellers
- Judges 5:12 Lit speak
- Judges 5:15 As in ancient versions; Heb My princes
- Judges 5:15 Lit feet
- Judges 5:16 Or saddlebags
- Judges 5:22 Lit mighty ones
- Judges 5:28 Or window
- Judges 5:28 Lit steps
- Judges 5:30 Lit necks
Judges 5
American Standard Version
5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah.
3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah;
I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
4 Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains [a]quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, [b]the highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through [c]byways.
7 [d]The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,
Until that I Deborah arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
[e]That offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless ye Jehovah.
10 Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit on rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
11 [f]Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah,
Even the righteous acts [g]of his rule in Israel.
Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
13 [h]Then came down a remnant of the nobles [i]and the people;
Jehovah came down for me [j]against the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek;
After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;
Out of Machir came down [k]governors,
And out of Zebulun they that handle [l]the marshal’s staff.
15 And [m]the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
16 Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond the Jordan:
And Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the [n]haven of the sea,
And abode by his creeks.
18 Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death,
And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan,
In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:
They took no gain of money.
20 From heaven fought the stars,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,
That ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, [o]march on with strength.
22 Then did the horsehoofs stamp
By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah.
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,
Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah [p]against the mighty.
24 Blessed [q]above women shall Jael be,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed shall she be [r]above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the tent-pin,
And her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head;
Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
At her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down [s]dead.
28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice,
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the [t]wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her,
[u]Yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?
31 So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.
And the land had rest forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:5 Or, flowed down
- Judges 5:6 Or, the caravans ceased
- Judges 5:6 Hebrew crooked ways.
- Judges 5:7 Or, The villages were unoccupied
- Judges 5:9 Or, Ye that offered yourselves willingly among the people, bless etc.
- Judges 5:11 Or, Because of the voice of the archers . . . there let them rehearse
- Judges 5:11 Or, toward his villages
- Judges 5:13 Or, Then go down, O remnant, for the nobles . . . O Jehovah, go down for me against the mighty. Or, Then made he a remnant to have dominion over the nobles and the people; Jehovah made me have dominion over the mighty
- Judges 5:13 Or, as otherwise read, the people of Jehovah came down for me against (or among) the mighty
- Judges 5:13 Or, among
- Judges 5:14 Or, lawgivers
- Judges 5:14 Or, the staff of the scribe
- Judges 5:15 Or, my princes in Issachar
- Judges 5:17 Or, shore
- Judges 5:21 Or, thou hast trodden down strength
- Judges 5:23 Or, among
- Judges 5:24 Or, of
- Judges 5:24 Or, of
- Judges 5:27 Or, overpowered
- Judges 5:28 Hebrew steps.
- Judges 5:29 Or (Yet she repeateth her words unto herself)
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