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5 <1>[31] On the day that the Israelites defeated Sisera, Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
<2> "The men of Israel prepared for battle.[32]
They volunteered to go to war.
Praise the Lord!
<3> "Listen, kings.
Pay attention, rulers.
I will sing.
I myself will sing to the Lord.
I will make music to the Lord,
to the God of the Israelites.
<4> "Lord, in the past you came from Seir.[33]
You marched from the land of Edom.[34]
You marched and the earth shook.
The skies rained.
The clouds dropped water.
<5> The mountains shook
before the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel!
<6> "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,[35]
and in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty.
Caravans[36] and travelers
traveled on the back roads.
<7> "There were no soldiers.
There were no soldiers in Israel
until you came, Deborah,
until you came to be a mother to Israel.[37]
<8> "God chose new leaders
to fight at the city gates.[38]
No one could find a shield or a spear
among the 40,000 soldiers of Israel.
<9> "My heart is with the commanders of Israel.
They volunteered to go to war.
Praise the Lord!
<10> "Pay attention you people
riding on white donkeys,
sitting on saddle blankets,[39]
and walking along the road.
<11> At the watering holes for the animals,
we hear the music of cymbals.
People sing about the victories of the Lord,
the victories of his soldiers in Israel
when the Lord's people fought at the city gates and won!
<12> "Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing the song!
Get up, Barak!
Go capture your enemies, son of Abinoam!
<13> "Now, survivors, go to the leaders.
People of the Lord, come with me and the soldiers.
<14> "The men of Ephraim came
from the hill country of Amalek.[40]
Benjamin, those men followed you
and your people.
And there were commanders
from the family of Makir.[41]
Leaders from the tribe of Zebulun
came with their bronze clubs.
<15> The leaders of Issachar were with Deborah.
The family of Issachar was true to Barak.
Those men marched to the valley on foot.
"Reuben, there are many brave soldiers
in your army groups.
<16> So why did you sit there
against the walls of your sheep pens?[42]
The brave soldiers of Reuben
thought hard about war.
But they stayed home
listening to the music that they played for their sheep.
<17> The people of Gilead[43] stayed
in their camps on the other side of the Jordan River.
As for you, people of Dan,
why did you stay by your ships?
The people of Asher remained by the sea,
camped near their safe harbors.
<18> "But the men of Zebulun and Naphtali
risked their lives fighting on those hills.
<19> The kings of Canaan came to fight,
but they didn't carry any treasures home.
They fought at the city of Taanach,
by the waters of Megiddo.
<20> The stars fought them from heaven.
From their paths across the sky,
they fought against Sisera.
<21> The Kishon River, that ancient river,
swept Sisera's men away.
My soul, march on with strength![44]
<22> The horses' hooves hammered the ground.
Sisera's mighty horses ran and ran.
<23> "The Angel of the Lord said,
"Curse the city of Meroz.
Curse its people!
They did not come with soldiers to help the Lord."
<24> Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite.
She will be blessed above all women.
<25> Sisera asked for water.
Jael gave him milk.
In a bowl fit for a ruler,
she brought him cream.
<26> Then Jael reached out
and took the tent peg.
Her right hand reached for the hammer
that a worker would use.
Then she put the tent peg against the soft spot on the side of Sisera's head
and hit it with the hammer.
<27> He sank between Jael's feet.
He fell, and there he lay.
He sank between her feet.
He fell.
Where Sisera sank, there he fell.
And there he lay, dead!
<28> "Look, there is Sisera's mother,
looking out the window,
looking through the curtains and crying.
'Why is Sisera's chariot[45] so late?
Why can't I hear his wagons?'
<29> "Her wisest servant girl answers her.
Yes, the servant gives her an answer:
<30> 'I'm sure they won the war,
and they are now taking things from the people they defeated.
They are dividing those things among themselves.
Each soldier is taking a girl or two.
Maybe Sisera found a piece of dyed cloth.
That's it! Sisera found a piece of fancy cloth- or maybe two-for Sisera the Conqueror to wear.'
<31> "May all your enemies die like this, Lord!
But may all those who love you be as strong as the rising sun!"
And there was peace in the land for 40 years.
© Copyright 2004 World Bible Translation Center.