Judges 5 :: New International Version (NIV)

The Song of Deborah

Jdg 5:1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

Jdg 5:2“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves— praise the LORD!

Jdg 5:3“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to[fn] the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song.

Jdg 5:4

Jdg 5:4“When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.

Jdg 5:5

Jdg 5:5The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

Jdg 5:6

Jdg 5:6“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.

Jdg 5:7

Jdg 5:7Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel.

Jdg 5:8

Jdg 5:8God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

Jdg 5:9

Jdg 5:9My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!

Jdg 5:10

Jdg 5:10“You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider

Jdg 5:11

Jdg 5:11the voice of the singers[fn] at the watering places. They recite the victories of the LORD, the victories of his villagers in Israel. “Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.

Jdg 5:12

Jdg 5:12‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, Barak! Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’

Jdg 5:13

Jdg 5:13“The remnant of the nobles came down; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.

Jdg 5:14

Jdg 5:14Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s[fn] staff.

Jdg 5:15

Jdg 5:15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

Jdg 5:16

Jdg 5:16Why did you stay among the sheep pens[fn] to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

Jdg 5:17

Jdg 5:17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.

Jdg 5:18

Jdg 5:18The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields.

Jdg 5:19

Jdg 5:19“Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they took no plunder of silver.

Jdg 5:20

Jdg 5:20From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

Jdg 5:21

Jdg 5:21The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!

Jdg 5:22

Jdg 5:22Then thundered the horses’ hooves— galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.

Jdg 5:23

Jdg 5:23‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the LORD. ‘Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’

Jdg 5:24

Jdg 5:24“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

Jdg 5:25

Jdg 5:25He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.

Jdg 5:26

Jdg 5:26Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.

Jdg 5:27

Jdg 5:27At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead.

Jdg 5:28

Jdg 5:28“Through the window peered Sisera’s mother; behind the lattice she cried out, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’

Jdg 5:29

Jdg 5:29The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

Jdg 5:30

Jdg 5:30‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a woman or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck— all this as plunder?’

Jdg 5:31

Jdg 5:31“So may all your enemies perish, LORD! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years.