Celebrating the Victory in Song
5:1 In that day Deborah and Barak
son of Abinoam sang this victory song:1
5:2 “When the leaders took the lead2
in Israel,
When the people answered the call to war—
Praise the LORD!
5:3 Hear, O kings!
Pay attention, O rulers!
I will sing to the LORD!3
I will sing4
to the LORD God of Israel!
5:4 O LORD, when you departed5
from Seir,
when you marched from Edom’s plains;
the earth shook, the heavens poured down,
the clouds poured down rain.6
5:5 The mountains trembled7
before the LORD, the God of Sinai;8
before the LORD God of Israel.
5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael caravans9
disappeared;10
travelers11
had to go on winding side roads.
5:7 Warriors12
were scarce,13
they were scarce in Israel;
until you14
arose, Deborah,
until you arose as a motherly protector15
in Israel.
5:8 God chose new leaders,16
then fighters appeared in the city gates;17
but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found,18
among forty military units19
in Israel.
5:9 My heart went out20
to Israel’s leaders,
to the people who answered the call to war.
Praise the LORD!
5:10 You who ride on light-colored female donkeys,
who sit on saddle cloths,21
you who walk on the road, pay attention!
5:11 Hear22
the sound of those who divide the sheep23
among the watering places;
there they tell of24
the Lord’s victorious deeds,
the victorious deeds of his warriors25
in Israel.
Then the LORD’s people went down to the city gates—
5:12 Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Capture your prisoners of war,26
son of Abinoam!
5:13 Then the survivors27
came down28
to the mighty ones;29
the LORD’s people came down30
to me31
as32
warriors.
5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek,33
They follow34
after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers;
From Makir leaders came down,
from Zebulun came35
the ones who march carrying36
an officer’s staff.
5:15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah,
The men of Issachar37
supported38
Barak,
Into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command;39
Among the clans of Reuben there was intense40
heart searching.41
5:16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds,42
listening to the shepherds playing their pipes43
for their flocks?44
As for the clans of Reuben—there was intense heart searching.
5:17 Gilead stayed put45
beyond the Jordan River,
As for Dan—why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards?46
Asher remained47
on the seacoast,
he stayed put48
by his harbors.49
5:18 The men of Zebulun were not concerned about
their lives;50
Naphtali charged on to the battlefields.51
5:19 Kings came, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought,
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;
but52
they took no silver as plunder.
5:20 From the sky the stars53
fought,
from their pathways they fought against Sisera.
5:21 The Kishon River carried them off,
The river confronted them54—the
Kishon River.
Step on the necks of the strong!55
5:22 The horses’56
hooves pounded the ground,57
the stallions galloped madly.58
5:23 ‘Call judgment down on59
Meroz,’ says the LORD’s angelic60
messenger,
‘Be sure61
to call judgment down on62
those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the LORD’s battle,63
to help in the LORD’s battle64
against the warriors.’65
5:24 The most rewarded66
of women should be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite.
She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.
5:25 He asked for water,
she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for important men,67
she served him curds.
5:26 Her left68
hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
She “hammered”69
Sisera,
she shattered his skull,70
she smashed his head,71
she drove the tent peg through his temple.72
5:27 Between her legs he collapsed,
he went limp73
and was lifeless;74
between her legs he collapsed and went limp, 75
in the spot where he collapsed,
there he went limp76—violently
murdered.77
5:28 Through the window she looked,
Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?
Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses78
delayed?’
5:29 The wisest of her ladies79
answer,
indeed she even thinks to herself,
5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing
the plunder80—
a girl or two for each man to rape!81
Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth,82
he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth,83
two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,
for the neck of the plunderer!’84
5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O LORD!
But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!”85
The land had rest for forty years.