5:1 On that day Deborah (and Barak, son of Abinoam,) sang this song:
5:2 Of chiefs who took the lead in Israel, of noble deeds by the people who bless the LORD,
5:3 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I to the LORD will sing my song, my hymn to the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:4 O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, The earth quaked and the heavens were shaken, while the clouds sent down showers.
5:5 Mountains trembled in the presence of the LORD, the One of Sinai, in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of slavery caravans ceased: Those who traveled the roads went by roundabout paths.
5:7 Gone was freedom beyond the walls, gone indeed from Israel. When I, Deborah, rose, when I rose, a mother in Israel,
5:8 New gods were their choice; then the war was at their gates. Not a shield could be seen, nor a lance, among forty thousand in Israel!
5:9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel, nobles of the people who bless the LORD;
5:10 They who ride on white asses, seated on saddlecloths as they go their way;
5:11 Sing of them to the strains of the harpers at the wells, where men recount the just deeds of the LORD, his just deeds that brought freedom to Israel.
5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah! awake, awake, strike up a song. Strength! arise, Barak, make despoilers your spoil, son of Abinoam.
5:13 Then down came the fugitives with the mighty, the people of the LORD came down for me as warriors.
5:14 From Ephraim, princes were in the valley; behind you was Benjamin, among your troops. From Machir came down commanders, from Zebulun wielders of the marshal’s staff.
5:15 With Deborah were the princes of Issachar; Barak, too, was in the valley, his course unchecked. Among the clans of Reuben great were the searchings of heart.
5:16 Why do you stay beside your hearths listening to the lowing of the herds? Among the clans of Reuben great were the searchings of heart!
5:17 Gilead, beyond the Jordan, rests; why does Dan spend his time in ships? Asher, who dwells along the shore, is resting in his coves.
5:18 Zebulun is the people defying death; Naphtali, too, on the open heights!
5:19 The kings came and fought; then they fought, those kings of Canaan, At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; no silver booty did they take.
5:20 From the heavens the stars, too, fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
5:21 The Wadi Kishon swept them away; a wadi. . . , the Kishon.
5:22 Then the hoofs of the horses pounded, with the dashing, dashing of his steeds.
5:23 "Curse Meroz," says the LORD, "hurl a curse at its inhabitants! For they came not to my help, as warriors to the help of the LORD."
5:24 Blessed among women be Jael, blessed among tent-dwelling women.
5:25 He asked for water, she gave him milk; in a princely bowl she offered curds.
5:26 With her left hand she reached for the peg, with her right, for the workman’s mallet. She hammered Sisera, crushed his head; she smashed, stove in his temple.
5:27 At her feet he sank down, fell, lay still; down at her feet he sank and fell; where he sank down, there he fell, slain.
5:28 From the window peered down and wailed the mother of Sisera, from the lattice: "Why is his chariot so long in coming? why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?"
5:29 The wisest of her princesses answers her, and she, too, keeps answering herself:
5:30 "They must be dividing the spoil they took: there must be a damsel or two for each man, Spoils of dyed cloth as Sisera’s spoil, an ornate shawl or two for me in the spoil."
5:31 May all your enemies perish thus, O LORD! but your friends be as the sun rising in its might! And the land was at rest for forty years.