Judges 5

Revised Geneva Translation

5 Then Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang the same day, saying,

² “Praise the LORD for the avenging of Israel, and for the people who offered themselves willingly!

³ “Hear, you kings! Listen, you princes! I will! I will sing to the LORD! I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel!

⁴ “LORD, when You went out of Seir, when You departed out of the field of Edom, the Earth trembled, and the skies rained! The clouds also dropped water!

⁵ “The mountains melted before the LORD, that Sinai before the LORD God of Israel.

⁶ “In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath (in the days of Jael), the highways were unoccupied and the travelers walked through byways.

⁷ “The towns were not inhabited. They decayed, I say, in Israel. Until I, Deborah, came up, who rose up a mother in Israel.

⁸ “They chose new gods. Then, war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand of Israel?

⁹ “My heart is with the governors of Israel, on those who are willing among the people. Praise the LORD!

¹⁰ Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who dwell by Middin, and who walk by the way.

¹¹ “At the sound that divides the flock among the troughs of water, there shall they recount the righteousness of the LORD, His righteousness of His towns in Israel. Then the people of the LORD shall go down to the gates.

¹² “Up Deborah! Up! Arise! Sing a song! Arise Barak, and lead your captives away, you son of Abinoam!

¹³ “For those who remain have dominion over the mighty of the people. The LORD has given me dominion over the strong.

¹⁴ “From Ephraim, their root arose against Amalek. After you, Benjamin, against your people, from Machir, came rulers, and from Zebulun, those who handle the pen of the writer.

¹⁵ “And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah and Issachar and also Barak. He was set on his feet in the valley. For among the divisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart.

¹⁶ “Why did you abide among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For among the divisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart.

¹⁷ “Gilead abode beyond Jordan. And why does Dan remain in ships? Asher sat on the seashore and waited in his decayed places.

¹⁸ “The people of Zebulun and Naphtali have jeopardized their lives until death in the high places of the field.

¹⁹ “The kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo. They received no monetary gain.

²⁰ “They fought from the sky. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

²¹ “The River Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have marched valiantly!

²² “Then, the horses’ hooves were broken with the oft-beating-together of their mighty men.

²³ “‘Curse you, Meroz!’ said the Angel of the LORD, ‘Curse its inhabitants, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty!’

²⁴ “Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, shall be blessed above women. She shall be blessed above women in tents.

²⁵ “He asked for water; she gave him milk. She brought forth butter in a lordly dish.

²⁶ “She put her hand to the nail and her right hand to the workman’s hammer. With the hammer, she struck Sisera. She struck off his head, after she had wounded and pierced his temples.

²⁷ “He bowed down at her feet. He fell down and lay still. At her feet, he bowed down and fell. And when he had sunk down, he lay there, dead.

²⁸ “The mother of Sisera looked out at a window and cried through the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots tarry?’

²⁹ “Her wise ladies answered her. Yea, she answered herself with her own words,

³⁰ ‘Have they not gotten and divided the spoil, every man having a maid or two? Sisera has a prey of diverse colored garments, a prey of sundry colors made of needle work, of diverse colors of needle work on both sides, for the chief of the spoil.’

³¹ “So let all your enemies perish, O LORD! But those who love Him shall be as the Sun when he rises in His might!” And the land had rest for forty years.