Then
Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that
day, saying,
“That the leaders
led in
That the people volunteered,
Bless the LORD!
“Hear, O kings;
give ear, O rulers!
I—to the LORD, I will sing,
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of
“LORD, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of
The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Even the clouds dripped water.
The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD,
This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of
“In the days of
Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were
deserted,
And travelers went by roundabout ways.
The peasantry ceased,
they ceased in
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in
“New gods were
chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in
“My heart goes
out to the commanders of
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the LORD!
“You who ride on
white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—sing!
At
the sound of those who divide flocks among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous deeds of the LORD,
The righteous deeds for His peasantry in
Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.
“Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
“Then survivors came
down to the nobles;
The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.
“From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek
came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.
“And the princes of Issachar were
with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was
Barak;
Into the valley they rushed at his heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolves
of heart.
Why did
you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
“
And why did Dan stay in ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And remained by its landings.
“Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even
to death,
And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
“The kings came and
fought;
Then fought the kings of
At Taanach near the waters of
They took no plunder in silver.
“The stars fought
from heaven,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
“The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength.
“Then the horses’
hoofs beat
From the dashing, the dashing of his valiant steeds.
‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel 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 warriors.’
“Most blessed of
women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
He
asked for water and she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
She
reached out her 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.
Between
her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
“Out of the window
she looked and lamented,
The mother of Sisera through the lattice,
‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’
“Her wise princesses
would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
‘Are they not finding,
are they not dividing the spoil?
A maiden, two maidens for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,
A spoil of dyed work embroidered,
Dyed work of double embroidery on the neck of the spoiler?’
“Thus 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 undisturbed for forty years.
Scripture taken from the NEW A
(c) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by
The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
(www.Lockman.org)