Judg 5 | ESV | STEP | Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day :

‏ Judges 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

1 ^aThen sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that ^bthe 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, ^cwhen you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
^dthe earth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains ^equaked before the Lord,
^feven Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of ^gShamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of ^hJael, ⁱthe 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 ^jWhen new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
^kWas shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who ^loffered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 “Tell of it, ^myou who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets}
and you who walk by the way.
11 To the sound of musicians ^{▼▼Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} 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 ^p“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, ^qlead 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 ^rEphraim their root ^sthey marched down into the valley, ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek}
following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from ^uMachir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s ^{▼▼Hebrew commander’s} staff;
15 the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to ^wBarak;
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 ^xamong the sheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17 ^yGilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
^zand Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
^aaAsher sat still ^abat the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
18 ^acZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
^adNaphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at ^aeTaanach, by the waters of ^afMegiddo;
^agthey got no spoils of silver.
20 ^ahFrom heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 ^aiThe 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,
^ajbecause 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 ^akJael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 ^alHe asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26 ^amShe 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 ^an“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through ^aothe 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 ^apdivided 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 ^aq“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be ^arlike the sun ^asas he rises in his might.”

^atAnd the land had rest for forty years.