Judges 5:1-18 ▼

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

2 “When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD.

3 Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.

4 O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.

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

6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.

7 Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.

8 When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.

9 My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD!

10 You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder

11 the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:

12 ‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’

13 Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.

14 Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun.

15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger by the ships? Asher stayed at the coast and remained in his harbors.

18 Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.