1 Then Deborah and Barak the son of
Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2 “Because the leaders took the lead in Israel,
because the people offered themselves
willingly,
be blessed, LORD!
3 “Hear, you kings!
Give ear, you princes!
I, even I, will sing to the LORD.
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God
of Israel.
4 “LORD, when you went out of Seir,
when you marched out of the field of
Edom,
the earth trembled, the sky also dropped.
Yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains quaked at the LORD’s
presence,
even Sinai at the presence of the
LORD, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the highways were
unoccupied.
The travellers walked through byways.
7 The rulers ceased in Israel.
They ceased until I, Deborah, arose;
Until I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods.
Then war was in the gates.
Was there a shield or spear seen
amongst forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is towards the governors of
Israel,
who offered themselves willingly
amongst the people.
Bless the LORD!
10 “Speak, you who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets,
and you who walk by the way.
11 Far from the noise of archers, in the
places of drawing water,
there they will rehearse the LORD’s
righteous acts,
the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.
“Then the LORD’s people went down to the
gates.
12 ‘Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, utter a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives,
you son of Abinoam.’
13 “Then a remnant of the nobles and the
people came down.
The LORD came down for me against
the mighty.
14 Those whose root is in Amalek came out
of Ephraim,
after you, Benjamin, amongst your
peoples.
Governors come down out of Machir.
Those who handle the marshal’s staff
came out of Zebulun.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah.
As was Issachar, so was Barak.
They rushed into the valley at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben,
there were great resolves of heart.
16 Why did you sit amongst the sheepfolds?
To hear the whistling for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Reuben,
there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead lived beyond the Jordan.
Why did Dan remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,
and lived by his creeks.
18 Zebulun was a people that jeopardised
their lives to the death;
Naphtali also, on the high places of the
field.
19 “The kings came and fought,
then the kings of Canaan fought at
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.
They took no plunder of silver.
20 From the sky the stars fought.
From their courses, they fought
against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,
that ancient river, the river Kishon.
My soul, march on with strength.
22 Then the horse hoofs stamped because
of the prancing,
the prancing of their strong ones.
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the LORD’s angel.
‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants,
because they didn’t come to help the
LORD,
to help the LORD against the mighty.’
24 “Jael shall be blessed above women,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
blessed shall she be above women in
the tent.
25 He asked for water.
She gave him milk.
She brought him butter in a lordly
dish.
26 She put her hand to the tent peg,
and her right hand to the workmen’s
hammer.
With the hammer she struck Sisera.
She struck through his head.
Yes, she pierced and struck through
his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay.
At her feet he bowed, he fell.
Where he bowed, there he fell down
dead.
28 “Through the window she looked out,
and cried:
Sisera’s mother looked through the
lattice.
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why do the wheels of his chariots
wait?’
29 Her wise ladies answered her,
Yes, she returned answer to herself,
30 ‘Have they not found, have they not divided
the plunder?
A lady, two ladies to every man;
to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments,
a plunder of dyed garments embroidered,
of dyed garments embroidered on
both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’
31 “So let all your enemies perish, LORD,
but let those who love him be as the
sun when it rises in its strength.”
Then the land had rest forty years.
