Judges 5

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 On that day Deborah (and Barak, son of Abinoam,) sang this song:	1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 Of chiefs who took the lead in Israel, of noble deeds by the people who bless the LORD,	2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
3 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!	3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
4 O LORD, when you went out from Seir,	4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
5 Mountains trembled	5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,	6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
7 Gone was freedom beyond the walls,	7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8 New gods were their choice; then the war was at their gates. Not a shield could be seen, nor a lance, among forty thousand in Israel!	8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,	9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
10 They who ride on white asses,	10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
11 Sing of them to the strains of the harpers at the wells,	11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah!	12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then down came the fugitives with the mighty,	13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
14 From Ephraim, princes were in the valley;	14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15 With Deborah were the princes of Issachar;	15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16 Why do you stay beside your hearths	16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead, beyond the Jordan, rests;	17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun is the people defying death;	18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought;	19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
20 From the heavens the stars, too, fought;	20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The Wadi Kishon swept them away;	21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22 Then the hoofs of the horses pounded,	22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
23 "Curse Meroz," says the LORD,	23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24 Blessed among women be Jael,	24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked for water, she gave him milk;	25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
26 With her left hand she reached for the peg,	26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he sank down, fell, lay still;	27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 From the window peered down and wailed	28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 The wisest of her princesses answers her,	29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 "They must be dividing the spoil they took:	30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31 May all your enemies perish thus, O LORD!	31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
	32 []