VerseAI

NIV

Judges 5

  1. 1<pb/>On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
  2. 2<pb/><t>“When the princes in Israel take the lead,</t> <t>when the people willingly offer themselves—</t> <t>praise the LORD! <pb/></t>
  3. 3<t>“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!</t> <t>I, even I, will sing to<f>[17]</f> the LORD;</t> <t>I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song. <pb/></t>
  4. 4<t>“When you, LORD, went out from Seir,</t> <t>when you marched from the land of Edom,</t> <t>the earth shook, the heavens poured,</t> <t>the clouds poured down water.</t>
  5. 5<t>The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai,</t> <t>before the LORD, the God of Israel. <pb/></t>
  6. 6<t>“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,</t> <t>in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;</t> <t>travelers took to winding paths.</t>
  7. 7<t>Villagers in Israel would not fight;</t> <t>they held back until I, Deborah, arose,</t> <t>until I arose, a mother in Israel.</t>
  8. 8<t>God chose new leaders</t> <t>when war came to the city gates,</t> <t>but not a shield or spear was seen</t> <t>among forty thousand in Israel.</t>
  9. 9<t>My heart is with Israel’s princes,</t> <t>with the willing volunteers among the people.</t> <t>Praise the LORD! <pb/></t>
  10. 10<t>“You who ride on white donkeys,</t> <t>sitting on your saddle blankets,</t> <t>and you who walk along the road,</t> <t>consider</t>
  11. 11<t>the voice of the singers<f>[18]</f> at the watering places.</t> <t>They recite the victories of the LORD,</t> <t>the victories of his villagers in Israel. <pb/>“Then the people of the LORD</t> <t>went down to the city gates.</t>
  12. 12<t>‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah!</t> <t>Wake up, wake up, break out in song!</t> <t>Arise, Barak!</t> <t>Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’ <pb/></t>
  13. 13<t>“The remnant of the nobles came down;</t> <t>the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.</t>
  14. 14<t>Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek;</t> <t>Benjamin was with the people who followed you.</t> <t>From Makir captains came down,</t> <t>from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s<f>[19]</f> staff.</t>
  15. 15<t>The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;</t> <t>yes, Issachar was with Barak,</t> <t>sent under his command into the valley.</t> <t>In the districts of Reuben</t> <t>there was much searching of heart.</t>
  16. 16<t>Why did you stay among the sheep pens<f>[20]</f></t> <t>to hear the whistling for the flocks?</t> <t>In the districts of Reuben</t> <t>there was much searching of heart.</t>
  17. 17<t>Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.</t> <t>And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?</t> <t>Asher remained on the coast</t> <t>and stayed in his coves.</t>
  18. 18<t>The people of Zebulun risked their very lives;</t> <t>so did Naphtali on the terraced fields. <pb/></t>
  19. 19<t>“Kings came, they fought,</t> <t>the kings of Canaan fought.</t> <t>At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,</t> <t>they took no plunder of silver.</t>
  20. 20<t>From the heavens the stars fought,</t> <t>from their courses they fought against Sisera.</t>
  21. 21<t>The river Kishon swept them away,</t> <t>the age-old river, the river Kishon.</t> <t>March on, my soul; be strong!</t>
  22. 22<t>Then thundered the horses’ hooves—</t> <t>galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.</t>
  23. 23<t>‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the LORD.</t> <t>‘Curse its people bitterly,</t> <t>because they did not come to help the LORD,</t> <t>to help the LORD against the mighty.’ <pb/></t>
  24. 24<t>“Most blessed of women be Jael,</t> <t>the wife of Heber the Kenite,</t> <t>most blessed of tent-dwelling women.</t>
  25. 25<t>He asked for water, and she gave him milk;</t> <t>in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.</t>
  26. 26<t>Her hand reached for the tent peg,</t> <t>her right hand for the workman’s hammer.</t> <t>She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,</t> <t>she shattered and pierced his temple.</t>
  27. 27<t>At her feet he sank,</t> <t>he fell; there he lay.</t> <t>At her feet he sank, he fell;</t> <t>where he sank, there he fell—dead. <pb/></t>
  28. 28<t>“Through the window peered Sisera’s mother;</t> <t>behind the lattice she cried out,</t> <t>‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?</t> <t>Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’</t>
  29. 29<t>The wisest of her ladies answer her;</t> <t>indeed, she keeps saying to herself,</t>
  30. 30<t>‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:</t> <t>a woman or two for each man,</t> <t>colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,</t> <t>colorful garments embroidered,</t> <t>highly embroidered garments for my neck—</t> <t>all this as plunder?’ <pb/></t>
  31. 31<t>“So may all your enemies perish, LORD!</t> <t>But may all who love you be like the sun</t> <t>when it rises in its strength.”</t> <pb/>Then the land had peace forty years.