Old Testament · History

Judges chapter 5

On that day, and son of Abinoam this song:When in Israel, when the people — give praise to !Listen, ! Pay attention, rulers! I — I will sing to Yahweh, I will to Yahweh, the God of Israel.Yahweh, when you marched out from , when you strode from the fields of Edom, the earth , the skies poured, the clouds released their water.Mountains before Yahweh — even , before Yahweh, the God of Israel.In the days of son of Anath, in the days of , the roads were abandoned, and travelers took . in Israel, it disappeared — until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose as a .When they , . Not a shield or spear could be seen among in Israel.My to the commanders of Israel, to those among the people who gave themselves willingly — give praise to Yahweh!You who ride , you who sit on , and you who walk the roads — tell the story!Louder than the voices at the — there they retell the of Yahweh, the just acts for his village people in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates., wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up — sing a song! Rise up, Barak! , son of Abinoam!Then the came down to the ; the people of Yahweh came down to me among the warriors.From Ephraim came those ; Benjamin followed, among your troops. From , commanders came down; from Zebulun, those who carry the .The of Issachar stood with Deborah; Issachar, loyal to Barak, rushed into the valley at his heels. But in the clans of Reuben — .Why did you stay among the , listening to ? In the clans of Reuben — deep searching of heart. stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan — why did he ? Asher sat by the coast, settled along his harbors.Zebulun — a people who . Naphtali too, on the .Kings came — they fought. The kings of Canaan fought at , by the . They .From the heavens the ; from their , they fought against Sisera.The River — that ancient river, the river Kishon. , with strength!Then the horses’ hooves the ground — went his mighty steeds.‘ ,’ said the , ‘curse its inhabitants bitterly — because they did not come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the warriors.’ among women is Jael, wife of Heber the — most honored of women who dwell in tents.He asked for water — she gave him milk. In a , she brought him .Her hand reached for the , her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She Sisera, she crushed his head, and drove through his temple.Between her feet he , he fell, he lay still. Between her feet he sank, he fell. Where he sank — there he fell, .Through the window she — Sisera’s mother cried out through the : ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the hoofbeats delay?’The answered her — and she repeated the words to herself:‘Aren’t they finding and dividing the ? — for each warrior, plunder of dyed cloth for Sisera, plunder of , a piece or two of embroidered cloth for my neck.’So let all your enemies , Yahweh! But let those who love him be like the sun rising in its full strength. And the land had for .