The Song of Deborah and Barak

(A)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

(B)For [a]the leaders leading in Israel,
For (C)the people volunteering,
Bless the Lord!
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!
(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.
(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.

“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.
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.
(K)New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 5:2 Or the hair hanging free in
  2. Judges 5:5 As in MT; LXX quaked
  3. Judges 5:6 Lit had ceased
  4. Judges 5:6 Lit twisting
  5. Judges 5:7 Or rural dwellers
  6. Judges 5:10 Or tawny
  7. Judges 5:11 Or rural dwellers
  8. Judges 5:12 Lit speak
  9. Judges 5:14 Lit a scribe
  10. Judges 5:15 As in ancient versions; MT My princes
  11. Judges 5:15 Lit feet
  12. Judges 5:16 Or saddlebags
  13. Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
  14. Judges 5:17 Or dwelt
  15. Judges 5:27 Lit destroyed
  16. Judges 5:28 Or window
  17. Judges 5:28 Lit steps
  18. Judges 5:30 Lit necks of the spoil

Deborah and Barak Celebrate in Song

Later that day, Deborah and Abinoam’s son Barak celebrated by singing this song:

“When hair grows long[a] in Israel,[b]
    when the people give themselves willingly,
        bless the Lord!
Listen, you kings!
    Turn your ears to me, you rulers!
As for me, to the Lord I will sing!
    I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

Lord, when you left Seir,
    when you marched out
        from the grain field of Edom,
the earth quaked
    and the heavens poured out rain;[c]
        indeed, the clouds poured out water.
Mountains tremble at the presence of the Lord
    even[d] Sinai!—at the presence of the Lord God of Israel.
During the lifetime of Anath’s son Shamgar
    and during the lifetime of Jael
highways remained deserted,
    while travelers kept to back roads.
Rural populations plummeted[e] in Israel;
    until I, Deborah, arose;
        until I—an Israeli mother—arose.
New gods were chosen,
    then war came to the city[f] gates,
but there wasn’t a shield or spear to be seen
    among 40,000 soldiers[g] of Israel.
My heart is for the commanders of Israel,
    to those who work willingly among the people.
        Bless the Lord!

10 “Speak up, you who ride white donkeys,
    sitting on cloth saddles[h]
        while you travel on your way!
11 From the sound of those who divide their work loads
    at the watering troughs,
there they will retell the righteous deeds of the Lord,
    the righteous victories for his rural people in Israel.”

Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.

12 “Wake up! Wake up, Deborah!
    Wake up! Wake up, Deborah!
Get up, Barak, and dispose of your captives,
    you son of Abinoam!
13 Then the survivors approached the nobles;
    the people of the Lord approached me in battle array.
14 Some came[i] from Ephraim
    who had been harassed by[j] Amalek,
        followed by Benjamin with your people.
Some commanders came[k] from Machir,
    along with some from Zebulun
        who carry a badge[l] of office.[m]
15 The officials of Issachar were with Deborah,
    as was the tribe of Issachar and Barak.
They rushed out into the valley at his heels
    along with divisions from Reuben’s army.
        Great was their resolve of heart!
16 Why did you sit down among the sheepfolds?
    To hear the bleating of the flocks?
Among the divisions of the army of Reuben
    there was great searching of heart.
17 The tribe of Gilead remained
    on the other side of the Jordan River.
As for the tribe of Dan,
    why did they stay on board their ships?
The tribe of Asher sat by the seashore
    and remained near its harbors.
18 The tribe of Zebulun did not worry about their lives
    at the price of death;
neither did the tribe of Naphtali also
    on high places of the field.[n]

19 “Kings came to fight,
    then battled the kings of Canaan
        at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo.
They took no silver
    as the spoils of war.
20 The stars fought from heaven;
    they fought against Sisera from their orbits.
21 The current[o] of the Kishon River swept them downstream,
    that ancient current, the Kishon’s current!
        March on strongly, my soul!
22 Then loud was the beat of the horses’ hooves—
    from the galloping, galloping war steeds!

23 “‘Meroz is cursed!’ declared the angel of the Lord.
    ‘Utterly and totally cursed are its inhabitants,
because they never came to the aid of the Lord,
    to the aid of the Lord against the valiant warriors!’”

24 “Blessed above all women is Jael,
    wife of Heber the Kenite;
        most blessed is she among women who live in tents!
25 Sisera[p] asked for water—
    she gave him milk.
        In a magnificent bowl she brought him yogurt![q]
26 She reached out one hand for the tent peg,
    and her other[r] for the workman’s mallet.
Then she struck Sisera,
    smashing his head,
        shattering and piercing his temple.
27 He crumpled to the ground between her feet,
    where he fell down and collapsed.
Between her feet he crumpled,
    Fallen dead!

28 “Back at home,[s] out the window Sisera’s mother peered,
    lamenting through the lattice.
‘Why is his chariot delayed in returning?
    ‘Why do the hoof beats of his chariots wait?’
29 Her wise attendants[t] find an answer for her;
    in fact, she tells the same words to herself:
30 ‘They’re busy finding and dividing the war booty, aren’t they?
    A girl or two for each valiant warrior,
and some dyed materials for Sisera—
    perhaps dyed, embroidered war booty—
or some detailed embroidery for my neck
    as the booty of war!

31 “May all of your enemies perish like this, Lord!
    But may those who love him be
        like the ascending sun in its strength!”

Then the land enjoyed quiet for 40 years.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 5:2 I.e. in keeping with having made a Nazirite vow
  2. Judges 5:2 Or When leaders carry out vengeance in Israel
  3. Judges 5:4 The Heb. lacks rain
  4. Judges 5:5 Lit. this
  5. Judges 5:7 Lit. ceased
  6. Judges 5:8 The Heb. lacks city
  7. Judges 5:8 The Heb. lacks soldiers
  8. Judges 5:10 Or wearing rich clothing
  9. Judges 5:14 The Heb. lacks came
  10. Judges 5:14 Or who routed; So LXX.
  11. Judges 5:14 The Heb. lacks came
  12. Judges 5:14 Lit. scepter
  13. Judges 5:14 Or who wield official authority
  14. Judges 5:18 I.e. as they fought within idolatrous worship centers
  15. Judges 5:21 Or wadi; i.e. a seasonal river, and so throughout the verse
  16. Judges 5:25 Lit. He
  17. Judges 5:25 I.e. a processed milk product
  18. Judges 5:26 Lit. right
  19. Judges 5:28 The Heb. lacks Back at home
  20. Judges 5:29 Or officials