Judges 5:12-23

New Living Translation

¹²“Wake up, Deborah, wake up!
Wake up, wake up, and sing a song!
Arise, Barak!
Lead your captives away, son of Abinoam!

¹³“Down from Tabor marched the few against the nobles.
    The people of the Lord marched down against mighty warriors.
¹⁴They came down from Ephraim—
    a land that once belonged to the Amalekites;
    they followed you, Benjamin, with your troops.
From Makir the commanders marched down;
    from Zebulun came those who carry a commander’s staff.
¹⁵The princes of Issachar were with Deborah and Barak.
    They followed Barak, rushing into the valley.
But in the tribe of Reuben
    there was great indecision.^[a]
¹⁶Why did you sit at home among the sheepfolds—
    to hear the shepherds whistle for their flocks?
Yes, in the tribe of Reuben
    there was great indecision.
¹⁷Gilead remained east of the Jordan.
    And why did Dan stay home?
Asher sat unmoved at the seashore,
    remaining in his harbors.
¹⁸But Zebulun risked his life,
    as did Naphtali, on the heights of the battlefield.

¹⁹“The kings of Canaan came and fought,
    at Taanach near Megiddo’s springs,
    but they carried off no silver treasures.
²⁰The stars fought from heaven.
    The stars in their orbits fought against Sisera.
²¹The Kishon River swept them away—
    that ancient torrent, the Kishon.
March on with courage, my soul!
²²Then the horses’ hooves hammered the ground,
    the galloping, galloping of Sisera’s mighty steeds.
²³‘Let the people of Meroz be cursed,’ said the angel of the Lord.
    ‘Let them be utterly cursed,
because they did not come to help the Lord—
    to help the Lord against the mighty warriors.’