CHAPTER 5
Listen,
O kings!
Give ear,
O princes!
I
will sing
to the LORD;
I will sing praise
to the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
O LORD,
when You went out
from Seir,
when You marched
from the land
of Edom,
the earth
trembled,
the heavens
poured out rain,
and
the clouds
poured down
water.
In the days
of Shamgar
son
of Anath,
in the days
of Jael,
the highways
were deserted
and the travelers
took
the byways.
When they chose
new
gods,
then
war
came to their gates.
Not
a shield
or spear
was found
among forty
thousand
in Israel.
the voices
of the singers
at
the watering places.
There
they shall recount
the righteous acts
of the LORD,
the righteous deeds
of His warriors
in Israel.
Then
the people
of the LORD
went down
to the gates:
‘Awake,
awake,
O Deborah!
Awake,
awake,
sing
a song!
Arise,
O Barak,
and take hold of
your captives,
O son
of Abinoam!’
Some came from
Ephraim,
with their roots
in Amalek;
Benjamin
came with your people
after you.
The commanders
came down
from
Machir,
the bearers
of the marshal’s
staff
from Zebulun.
The princes
of Issachar
were with
Deborah,
and Issachar
was with Barak,
rushing
into the valley
at his heels.
In the clans
of Reuben
was great
indecision.
Why
did you sit
among
the sheepfolds
to hear
the whistling
for the flocks?
In the clans
of Reuben
was great
indecision.
Gilead
remained
beyond
the Jordan.
Dan,
why
did you linger
by the ships?
Asher
stayed
at the coast
and remained
in
his harbors.
Kings
came
and fought;
then
the kings
of Canaan
fought
at Taanach
by
the waters
of Megiddo,
but they took
no
plunder
of silver.
The River
Kishon
swept them away,
the ancient
river,
the River
Kishon.
March on,
O my soul,
in strength!
‘Curse
Meroz,’
says
the angel
of the LORD.
‘Bitterly curse
her inhabitants;
for
they did not
come
to help
the LORD,
to help
the LORD
against the mighty.’
Most blessed
among women
is Jael,
the wife
of Heber
the Kenite,
most blessed
of tent-dwelling
women.
She reached
for the tent peg,
her right
hand
for the workman's
hammer.
She struck
Sisera
and crushed
his skull;
she shattered
and pierced
his temple.
At
her feet
he collapsed,
he fell,
there he lay still;
at
her feet
he collapsed,
he fell;
where
he collapsed,
there
he fell
dead.
Sisera’s
mother
looked
through
the window;
she peered through
the lattice
and lamented:
‘Why
is his chariot
so long
in coming?
What
has delayed
the clatter
of his chariots?’
‘Are they not
finding
and dividing
the spoil—
a girl
or two
for each
warrior,
a plunder
of dyed garments
for Sisera,
the spoil
of embroidered
garments
for the neck
of the looter?’
So
may all
your enemies
perish,
O LORD,
But may those who love You
shine like
the sun
at its brightest.
And the land
had rest
for forty
years.