Judges 5
5
The Song of Deborah and Barak
1And Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day:
2“When long hair hangs loosely in Israel,
when the people willingly offer themselves,
bless Yahweh!
3Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I will sing to Yahweh;
I will sing praise to Yahweh,
the God of Israel.
4Yahweh, when you went down from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled, the heavens poured down,
the clouds poured down water.
5The mountains trembled#Or “quaked” before Yahweh,
this Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
6“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the caravans had ceased,
the travelers,#Literally “the ones walking on the paths” they kept to the byways.#Literally “they went on the crooked roads”
7The warriors#Others interpret this word as referring to the “rural dwellers” ceased;
they failed to appear in Israel,
until I,#Or “you” Deborah, arose;
I#Or “you” arose as a mother in Israel.
8God chose new leaders,#ESV, NRSV translate “when new gods were chosen”
then war was at the gates;
a small shield or a spear was not seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
those offering themselves willingly among the people;
bless Yahweh!
10The riders of white female donkeys,
those sitting on saddle blankets,
and those going on the way, talk about it!
11At the sound of those dividing#Meaning uncertain; other translations have “archers” (Tanakh), “musicians” (ESV, NRSV) or “singers” (NIV, HCSB) the sheep
among the watering places,
there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh,
the righteous deeds for his warriors#Hebrew “warrior” in Israel.
Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.
12“Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.
13Then the remnant went down to the nobles;
the people of Yahweh went down for him#Hebrew “me” against the mighty.
14From Ephraim is their root into Amalek,
after you, Benjamin, with your family;
from Makir the commanders went down,
and from Zebulun those carrying the scepter
of the military commander.
15And the chiefs#Hebrew “my chiefs”; ancient translations read “the chiefs” in Issachar were with Deborah;
and Issachar likewise was with Barak;
into the valley he was sent to get him from behind.#Literally “he was sent at his feet”
Among the clans of Reuben
were great decisions of the heart.#Or “thoughts of the heart”
16Why do you sit among the sheepfolds,
to hear the calling sounds of the herds?
For the clans of Reuben,
there were great searchings of the heart.
17Gilead has remained#Or “stayed” beyond the Jordan.
Why did Dan dwell as a foreigner with ships?
Asher sat at the coast of the waters,
and by his coves he has been settling down.
18Zebulun is a people who scorned death,
and Naphtali, on the heights of the field.
19“The kings came, they fought;
then the kings of Canaan fought;
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,
they got no plunder in silver.
20The stars fought from heaven;
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21The wadi#A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season torrent of Kishon swept them away,
the raging wadi torrent,
the wadi torrent of Kishon.
March on, my soul, with strength!
22“Then the hooves of the horse beat loudly,
because of galloping, galloping of his stallions.
23‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of Yahweh;
‘curse bitterly its inhabitants,
because they did not come to the help of Yahweh,
to the help of Yahweh against the mighty.’
24“Most blessed of women is Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
most blessed is she of women among tent dwellers.
25He asked for water, and she gave milk;
in a drinking bowl for nobles, she brought curds.
26She reached out her hand to the peg,
and her right hand for the workman’s hammer;
and she struck Sisera, crushed his head,
and she shattered and pierced his temple.
27Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay.
Between her feet he sank down, he fell;
Where he sank down, there he fell—dead.#Literally “devastated”
28“Through the window she looked down;
the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?
Why do the hoof beats#Or “steps” of his chariot tarry?’
29The wisest of her ladies answer her;
she also answers the question herself:
30‘Are they not finding and dividing the plunder?
A bedmate or two bedmates for every man;#Literally “a womb, two wombs for head of every man”
colorful garments for Sisera,
plunder of colorful garments,#Hebrew “garment”
beautifully finished colorful garments,
on the neck of the plunderer?’
31So may all your enemies perish, O Yahweh,
but those who love him are like the rising sun at its brightest.”
And the land had rest for forty years.
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Judges 5: LEB
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