2  “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that ^wthe people offered themselves willingly,

bless the Lord!

3  “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the Lord I will sing;

I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

4  “Lord, ^xwhen you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

^ythe earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

5  The mountains ^zquaked before the Lord,

^aeven Sinai before the Lord,¹ the God of Israel.

6  “In the days of ^bShamgar, son of Anath,

in the days of ^cJael, ^dthe highways were abandoned,

and travelers kept to the byways.

7  The villagers ceased in Israel;

they ceased to be until I arose;

I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.

8  ^eWhen new gods were chosen,

then war was in the gates.

^fWas shield or spear to be seen

among forty thousand in Israel?

9  My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel

who ^goffered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless the Lord.

10  “Tell of it, ^hyou who ride on white donkeys,

you who sit on rich carpets²

and you who walk by the way.

11  To the sound of musicians³ at the watering places,

there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,

the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

12  ⁱ“Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, break out in a song!

Arise, Barak, ^jlead away your captives,

O son of Abinoam.

13  Then down marched the remnant of the noble;

the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.

14  From ^kEphraim their root ^lthey marched down into the valley,⁴

following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;

from ^mMachir marched down the commanders,

and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s⁵ staff;

15  the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,

and Issachar faithful to ⁿBarak;

into the valley they rushed at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

16  Why did you sit still ^oamong the sheepfolds,

to hear the whistling for the flocks?

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

17  ^pGilead stayed beyond the Jordan;

^qand Dan, why did he stay with the ships?

^rAsher sat still ^sat the coast of the sea,

staying by his landings.

18  ^tZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;

^tNaphtali, too, on the heights of the field.

19  “The kings came, they fought;

then fought the kings of Canaan,

at ^uTaanach, by the waters of ^vMegiddo;

^wthey got no spoils of silver.

20  ^xFrom heaven the stars fought,

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

21  ^yThe torrent Kishon swept them away,

the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

March on, my soul, with might!

22  “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs

with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

23  “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,

curse its inhabitants thoroughly,

^zbecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,

to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

24  “Most blessed of women be ^aJael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite,

of tent-dwelling women most blessed.

25  ^bHe asked for water and she gave him milk;

she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.

26  ^cShe sent her hand to the tent peg

and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;

she struck Sisera;

she crushed his head;

she shattered and pierced his temple.

27  Between her feet

he sank, he fell, he lay still;

between her feet

he sank, he fell;

where he sank,

there he fell—dead.

28  ^d“Out of the window she peered,

the mother of Sisera wailed through ^ethe lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

29  Her wisest princesses answer,

indeed, she answers herself,

30  ‘Have they not found and ^fdivided the spoil?—

A womb or two for every man;

spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,

spoil of dyed materials embroidered,

two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

31  ^g“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!

But your friends be ^hlike the sun ⁱas he rises in his might.”