Deborah’s Song

1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:

2When the leaders leadA in Israel,

when the people volunteer,

blessed be the Lord.

3Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes!

I will sing to the Lord;

I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

4Lord, when you came from Seir,a

when you marched from the fields of Edom,

the earth trembled,b

the skies pouredc rain,

and the clouds poured water.

5The mountains melted before the Lord,

even Sinai,A before the Lord, the God of Israel.a

6In the days of Shamgara son of Anath,

in the days of Jael,b

the main roads were deserted

because travelers kept to the side roads.

7Villages were deserted,A

they were deserted in Israel,

until I,B Deborah, arose,

a mother in Israel.

8Israel chose new gods,

then there was war in the city gates.

Not a shield or spear was seen

among forty thousand in Israel.

9My heart is with the leaders of Israel,

with the volunteers of the people.

Blessed be the Lord!

10You who ride on whiteA donkeys,

who sit on saddle blankets,

and who travel on the road, give praise!

11Let them tell the righteous actsa of the Lord,

the righteous deeds of his villagers in Israel,

with the voices of the singers at the watering places.A

Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.

12“Awake! Awake, Deborah!

Awake! Awake, sing a song!

Arise, Barak,

and take your prisoners,

son of Abinoam! ”

13Then the survivorsa came down to the nobles;b

the Lord’s people came down to meA against the warriors.

14Those with their roots in AmalekA came from Ephraim;

Benjamin came with your people after you.

The leaders came down from Machir,a

and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.

15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

Issachar was with Barak;

they were under his leadershipa a in the valley.

There was great searchingB of heart

among the clans of Reuben.

16Why did you sit among the sheep pensA

listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks?

There was great searching of heart

among the clans of Reuben.

17Gileada remained beyond the Jordan.

Dan, why did you linger at the ships?

Asher remained at the seashore

and stayed in his harbors.

18The people of Zebulun defied death,

Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.

19Kings came and fought.

Then the kings of Canaan fought

at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo,

but they did not plunder the silver.

20The stars fought from the heavens;

the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.

21The river Kishon swept them away,a

the ancient river, the river Kishon.

March on, my soul, in strength!

22The horses’ hooves then hammered —

the galloping, galloping of hisA stallions.

23“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 with the warriors.”

24Most blessed of women is Jael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite;

she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.

25He asked for water; she gave him milk.

She brought him creama in a majestic bowl.

26She reached for a tent peg,

her right hand, for a workman’s hammer.

Then she hammered Sisera —

she crushed his head;

she shattered and pierced his temple.

27He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet;

he collapsed, he fell between her feet;

where he collapsed, there he fell — dead.

28Sisera’s mother looked through the window;

she peered through the lattice, crying out:

“Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses? ”A

29Her wisest princesses answer her;

she even answers herself:

30“Are they not finding and dividing the spoil —

a girl or twoA for each warrior,

the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,

the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck? ”B

31Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.A

But may those who love him

be like the rising of the sun in its strength.

And the land had peace for forty years.