The Song of Deborah and Barak
aThen sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:
2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that athe people offered themselves willingly,
bless the Lord!
3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 “Lord, awhen you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
bthe earth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains aquaked before the Lord,
beven Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of aShamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of bJael, cthe highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
7 The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 aWhen new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
bWas shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who aoffered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 “Tell of it, ayou who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets
and you who walk by the way.
11 To the sound of musicians at the watering places,
there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.
“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
12 a“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, blead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13 Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
14 From aEphraim their root bthey marched down into the valley,
following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from cMachir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s staff;
15 the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to aBarak;
into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
16 Why did you sit still aamong the sheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17 aGilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
band Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
cAsher sat still dat the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
18 aZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
aNaphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at aTaanach, by the waters of bMegiddo;
cthey got no spoils of silver.
20 aFrom heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 aThe torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22 “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
abecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24 “Most blessed of women be aJael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent‑dwelling women most blessed.
25 aHe asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26 aShe sent her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.
28 a“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through bthe lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29 Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
30 ‘Have they not found and adivided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31 a“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be blike the sun cas he rises in his might.”
dAnd the land had rest for forty years.