< Judges 5 >
1 And Deborah sings—also Barak son of Abinoam—on that day, saying,
2 “For freeing leaders in Israel, For a people willingly offering themselves, Bless YHWH.
3 Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes, I sing to YHWH, I sing praise to YHWH, God of Israel.
4 YHWH, in Your going forth out of Seir, In Your stepping out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled and the heavens dropped, And thick clouds dropped water.
5 Hills flowed from the face of YHWH, This one—Sinai—From the face of YHWH, God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath—In the days of Jael—The ways have ceased, And those going in the paths go [in] crooked ways.
7 Villages ceased in Israel—they ceased, Until I arose—Deborah, That I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 He chooses new gods, Then war [is] at the gates! A shield is not seen—and a spear Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart [is] to the lawgivers of Israel, Who are offering themselves willingly among the people, Bless YHWH!
10 Riders on white donkeys—Sitters on a long robe—And walkers by the way—meditate!
11 By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of YHWH, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then the people of YHWH have gone down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song; Rise, Barak, and take your captivity captive, Son of Abinoam.
13 Then him who is left of the majestic ones He caused to rule the people of YHWH, He caused me to rule among the mighty.
14 From Ephraim [are] those whose root [is] in Amalek, After you, Benjamin, among your peoples, From Machir lawgivers came down, And from Zebulun those drawing with the reed of a writer.
15 And princes in Issachar [are] with Deborah, Indeed, Issachar [is] right with Barak, Into the valley he was sent on his feet. In the divisions of Reuben, The decrees of heart [are] great!
16 Why have you abided between the boundaries, To hear lowings of herds? For the divisions of Reuben, The searchings of heart [are] great!
17 Gilead dwelt beyond the Jordan, And why does Dan sojourn [in] ships? Asher has abided at the haven of the seas, And dwells by his creeks.
18 Zebulun [is] a people who exposed its soul to death, Naphtali also—on high places of the field.
19 Kings came—they fought; Then kings of Canaan fought, In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They did not take gain of money!
20 They fought from the heavens: The stars fought with Sisera from their highways.
21 The Brook of Kishon swept them away, The most ancient brook—the Brook of Kishon. You tread down strength, O my soul!
22 Then the horse-heels were broken, By gallopings—gallopings of its mighty ones.
23 Curse Meroz, said a messenger of YHWH, Cursing, curse its inhabitants! For they did not come to the help of YHWH, To the help of YHWH among the mighty!
24 Above women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite, She is blessed above women in the tent.
25 He asked for water—she gave milk; She brought butter near in a lordly dish.
26 She sends forth her hand to the pin, And her right hand to the laborers’ hammer, And she hammered Sisera—she struck his head, Indeed, she struck, and it passed through his temple.
27 He bowed between her feet—He fell, he lay down; He bowed between her feet, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell—destroyed.
28 She has looked out through the window—Indeed, she cries out—the mother of Sisera, Through the lattice: Why is his chariot delaying to come? Why have the steps of his chariot tarried?
29 The wise ones, her princesses, answer her, Indeed, she returns her sayings to herself:
30 Do they not find? They apportion spoil, A female—two females—for every head, Spoil of finger-work for Sisera, Spoil of embroidered finger-work, Finger-work—a pair of embroidered things, For the necks of the spoil!
31 So do all Your enemies perish, O YHWH, And those loving Him [are] As the going out of the sun in its might!” And the land rests [for] forty years.
