Judges 5
New American 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)For [a]the leaders leading in Israel,
For (C)the people volunteering,
Bless the Lord!
3 Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries!
(D)I myself—to the Lord, I myself will sing,
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel!
4 (E)Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
(F)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
The clouds also dripped water.
5 (G)The mountains [b]flowed with water at the presence of the Lord,
(H)This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (I)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of (J)Jael, the roads [c]were deserted,
And travelers went by [d]roundabout ways.
7 The [e]peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 (K)New gods were chosen;
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 the Lord!
10 (M)You who ride on [f]white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!
11 At the sound of those who distribute water among (N)the watering places,
There they will recount (O)the righteous deeds of the Lord,
The righteous deeds for His [g]peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down (P)to the gates.
12 “(Q)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, [h]sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and (R)lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
13 Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the Lord 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 [i]office.
15 And the [j]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 were great determinations of heart.
16 Why did you sit among (U)the [l]sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 (V)Gilead [m]remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay on ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And [n]remained by its landings.
18 (W)Zebulun was a people who risked their lives,
And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.
19 “(X)The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
(Y)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
(Z)They took no plunder in silver.
20 (AA)The stars fought from heaven,
From their paths they fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
(AB)My soul, march on with strength!
22 (AC)Then the horses’ hoofs beat
From the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord,
‘Utterly curse its inhabitants,
(AD)Because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord 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, she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
26 She reached out her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered 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 [o]dead.
28 “Out of the window she looked and wailed,
The mother of Sisera through the [p]lattice,
‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the [q]hoofbeats of his chariots delay?’
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 spoils?
A concubine, two concubines for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed cloth,
A spoil of dyed cloth embroidered,
Dyed cloth of double embroidery on the [r]neck of the plunderer?’
31 (AG)May all Your enemies perish in this way, Lord;
(AH)But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
And the land was at rest for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:2 Or the hair hanging free in
- Judges 5:5 As in MT; LXX quaked
- Judges 5:6 Lit had ceased
- Judges 5:6 Lit twisting
- Judges 5:7 Or rural dwellers
- Judges 5:10 Or tawny
- Judges 5:11 Or rural dwellers
- Judges 5:12 Lit speak
- Judges 5:14 Lit a scribe
- Judges 5:15 As in ancient versions; MT My princes
- Judges 5:15 Lit feet
- Judges 5:16 Or saddlebags
- Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
- Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
- Judges 5:27 Lit destroyed
- Judges 5:28 Or window
- Judges 5:28 Lit steps
- Judges 5:30 Lit necks of the spoil
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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