The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
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“For the leaders who took the lead in Israel,
For the people who volunteered [for battle],
Bless the Lord!
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“Hear, O kings; listen, O rulers!
I will sing to the Lord,
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
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“Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Yes, the clouds dripped water.
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“The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord,
Yes, this Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted,
And travelers went by roundabout ways.
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“The villagers ceased to be; they ceased in Israel
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
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“They chose new gods;
Then war was in the gates.
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
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“My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the Lord!
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“Sing of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who walk by the way.
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“At the sound of those who divide flocks among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts toward His villagers in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.
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“Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.
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“Then down marched the survivors to the nobles;
The people of the Lord marched down for Me against the mighty.
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“From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down,
After you, Benjamin, with your relatives;
From Machir came down commanders and rulers,
And from Zebulun those who [a]handle the scepter of the [office of] scribe.
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“And the heads of Issachar came with Deborah;
As Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed at his heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
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“Why [Reuben] did you linger among the [b]sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
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“Gilead remained beyond the Jordan;
And why did Dan live as an alien on ships?
Asher sat [still] on the seacoast,
And remained by its landings.
[These did not come to battle for God’s people.]
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“But Zebulun was a people who risked their lives to the [point of] death;
Naphtali also, on the heights of the field.
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“The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.
Spoils of silver they did not obtain.
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“From the heavens the stars fought,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
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“The torrent Kishon swept the enemy away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength.
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“Then the horses’ hoofs beat [loudly]
Because of the galloping—the galloping of his valiant and powerful steeds.
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‘Curse [c]Meroz,’ said the messenger of the Lord,
‘Utterly curse its inhabitants;
Because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty.’
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“Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
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“Sisera asked for water and she gave him milk;
She brought him curds in a magnificent bowl.
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“She reached out her [left] hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
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“He bowed, he fell, he lay [still] at her feet;
At her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
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“Out of the window she looked down and lamented (cried out in a shrill voice),
The mother of Sisera through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?
Why have the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?’
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“Her wise ladies answered her,
Indeed, she repeated her words to herself,
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‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?
A maiden (concubine) or two for every man;
A spoil of dyed garments for Sisera,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Two pieces of dyed garments embroidered for the neck of the plunderer?’
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“So let all Your enemies perish, O Lord;
But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
And the land was at rest for forty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:14 Writing developed in Mesopotamia during the 4th millennium b.c. It began as a system of accounting to record financial matters and trading transactions.
- Judges 5:16 Or saddlebags
- Judges 5:23 A place in the territory of Naphtali.