CHAPTER 5
1 And Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang in that day, and said,
2 Ye men of Israel, that have willfully offered your lives to peril, bless ye the Lord.
3 Ye kings, hear; ye princes, perceive with ears; I am, I am the woman, that shall sing to the Lord; I shall sing to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when thou wentest out from Seir, and passedest by the countries of Edom, the earth was moved, and heavens and clouds dropped with waters;
5 hills flowed from the face of the Lord, and Sinai from the face of the Lord God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, [the] paths rested, and they that entered by those [or them], went [away] by paths out of the way.
7 Strong men in Israel ceased, and rested, till Deborah arose, a mother in Israel.
8 The Lord chose new battles, and he destroyed the gates of enemies; shield and spear appeared not in forty thousand of Israel.
9 Mine heart loveth the princes of Israel; ye that offered you to peril by your own will, bless ye the Lord;
10 speak ye, that ascend [or go up] on shining asses, and sit above in doom, and go in the way.
11 Where the chariots were hurled down altogether, and the host of [the] enemies was strangled, there the Lord’s rightwiseness be told out, and his mercy among the strong men of Israel; then the Lord’s people came down to the gates, and got the princehood.
12 Rise, rise thou, Deborah, rise thou, and speak a song; rise thou, Barak, and thou, son of Abinoam, take thy prisoners.
13 The remnants of the people be saved; the Lord fought against strong men of Ephraim.
14 He did away them into Amalek, and after him from Benjamin into thy peoples, thou Amalek. Princes of Machir and of Zebulun went down, that led the host to fight.
15 The dukes of Issachar were with Deborah, and pursued [or followed] the steps of Barak, that gave himself to peril, as into a ditch head-long, and into hell. While Reuben was parted against himself; the strife of great hearted men was found.
16 Why dwellest thou betwixt twain ends, that thou hear the hissings of flocks? While Reuben was parted against himself, the strife of great hearted men was found.
17 Gilead rested beyond Jordan, and Dan gave attention to ships. Asher dwelled in the brink of the sea, and dwelled in havens.
18 And Zebulun and Naphtali offered their lives to the death, in the country of Meromei, that is interpreted, high.
19 Kings came, and fought; kings of Canaan fought in Taanach, beside the waters of Megiddo; and nevertheless they took nothing by prey.
20 From heaven, it was fought against them; stars dwelled in their order, and in their course, and they fought against Sisera.
21 The strand [or stream] of Kishon drew their dead bodies, the strand [or stream] of Kedumim, the strand [or stream] of Kishon. My soul, tread thou strong men.
22 The horse hoofs fell away, while the strongest of enemies fled with rush, and felled headlong.
23 Curse ye the land of Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye the dwellers of him, for they came not to the help of the Lord, into the help of the strongest of him.
24 Blessed among women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed be she in her tabernacle.
25 To Sisera asking water she gave milk, and in a basin of princes she gave him butter.
26 She put the left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the smith’s hammer; and she smote Sisera, and sought in his head a place of wound, and she pierced strongly his temple.
27 He felled betwixt her feet, he failed, and died; he was weltered before her feet, and he lay without life, and wretchedful.
28 His mother beheld by a window, and yelled; and she spake from the solar, Why tarrieth his chariot to come again? Why tarry the feet of his four-horsed carts?
29 One wiser than [the] other wives of him answered these words to the mother of her husband,
30 In hap now he parteth spoils, and the fairest of women is chosen to him; clothes of diverse colours be given to Sisera into prey, and diverse array of household is gathered to adorn necks.
31 Lord, all thine enemies perish so; soothly, they that love thee, shine so, as the sun shineth in his strength. And the land rested forty years.