Chapter 5

¹ And Debbora and Barac son of Abineem sang in that day, saying,

² A revelation was made in Israel when the people were made willing: Praise ye the Lord. ³ Hear, ye kings, and hearken, rulers: I will sing, it is I who will sing to the Lord, it is I, I will sing a psalm to the Lord the god of Israel. ⁴ O Lord, in thy going forth on Seir, when thou wentest forth out of the land of Edom, the earth quaked and the heaven dropped dews, and the clouds dropped water. ⁵ The mountains were shaken before the face of the Lord Eloi, this Sina before the face of the Lord God of Israel. ⁶ In the days of Samegar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, they deserted the ways, and went in by-ways; they went in crooked paths. ⁷ The mighty men in Israel failed, they failed until Debbora arose, until she arose a mother in Israel. ⁸ They chose new gods; then the cities of rulers fought; ¹there was not a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel.

⁹ My heart inclines to the orders given in Israel; ye that are willing among the people, bless the Lord. ¹⁰ Ye that mount a she-ass at noon-day, ye that sit on the judgement-seat, and walk by the roads of them that sit in judgement by the way; declare ¹¹ ye that are delivered from the noise of ²disturbers among the drawers of water; there shall they relate righteous acts: O Lord, increase righteous acts in Israel: then the people of the Lord went down to the cities. ¹² Awake, awake, Debbora; awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barac, and lead thy captivity captive, son of Abineem. ¹³ Then went down the remnant to the strong, the people of the Lord went down for him among the mighty ones from me.

¹⁴ Ephraim rooted them out in Amalec, behind thee was Benjamin among thy people: the inhabitants of Machir came down with me searching out the enemy, and from Zabulon came they that ³draw with the scribe's pen of record. ¹⁵ And princess in Issachar were with Debbora and Barac, thus she sent Barac on his feet in the valleys into the portions of Ruben; great pangs ⁴reached to the heart. ¹⁶ Why did they sit between the sheep-folds to hear the bleating of flocks for the divisions of Ruben? there were great searchings of heart. ¹⁷ Galaad is on the other side of Jordan where

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he pitched his tents; and why does Dan remain in ships? Aser sat down on the sea-coasts, and he will tabernacle at his ⁵ports. ¹⁸ The people Zabulon ⁶exposed their soul to death, and Nephthali came to the high places of their land.

¹⁹ Kings set themselves in array, then the kings of Chanaan fought in Thanaach at the water of Mageddo; they took no gift of money. ²⁰ The stars from heaven set themselves in array, they set themselves to fight with Sisara out of their paths. ²¹ The brook of Kison swept them away, the ancient brook, the brook Kison: my mighty soul will trample him down. ²² When the hoofs of the horse were entangled, his mighty ones earnestly hasted ²³ to curse Meroz: Curse ye it, said the angel of the Lord; cursed is every one that dwells in it, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to his help among the mighty.

²⁴ Blessed among women be Jael wife of Chaber the Kenite; let her be blessed above women in tents. ²⁵ He asked for water, she gave him milk in a dish; she brought butter of princes. ²⁶ She stretched forth her left hand to ⁷the nail, and her right to the hand workman’s hammer, and she ⁸smote Sisara with it, she nailed through his head and smote him; she nailed through his temples. ²⁷ He rolled down between her feet; he fell and lay between her feet; he bowed and fell: where he bowed, there he fell ⁹dead.

²⁸ The mother of Sisara looked down through the window out of the loophole, saying, Why was his chariot ashamed? why did the ¹⁰wheels of his chariots tarry? ²⁹ Her wise ladies answered her, and she returned answers to herself, saying, ³⁰ Will they not find him dividing the spoil? he will surely ¹¹be gracious to every man: there are spoils of dyed garments for Sisara, spoils of various dyed garments, dyed embroidered garments, they are the spoils for his neck. ³¹ Thus let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: and they that love him shall be as the going forth of the sun in his strength.

³² And the land had rest forty years.