5:11 Hear 1 the sound of those who divide the sheep 2 among the watering places;
there they tell of 3 the Lord’s victorious deeds,
the victorious deeds of his warriors 4 in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –
5:12 Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Capture your prisoners of war, 5 son of Abinoam!
5:13 Then the survivors 6 came down 7 to the mighty ones; 8
the Lord’s people came down to me 9 as 10 warriors.
5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, 11
they follow 12 after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.
From Makir leaders came down,
from Zebulun came 13 the ones who march carrying 14 an officer’s staff.
5:15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah,
the men of Issachar 15 supported 16 Barak;
into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. 17
Among the clans of Reuben there was intense 18 heart searching. 19
5:16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, 20
listening to the shepherds playing their pipes 21 for their flocks? 22
As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.
5:17 Gilead stayed put 23 beyond the Jordan River.
As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? 24
Asher remained 25 on the seacoast,
he stayed 26 by his harbors. 27
5:18 The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; 28
Naphtali charged on to the battlefields. 29
5:19 Kings came, they fought;
the kings of Canaan fought,
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, 30
but 31 they took no silver as plunder.
5:20 From the sky 32 the stars 33 fought,
from their paths in the heavens 34 they fought against Sisera.
5:21 The Kishon River carried them off;
the river confronted them 35 – the Kishon River.
Step on the necks of the strong! 36
5:22 The horses’ 37 hooves pounded the ground; 38
the stallions galloped madly. 39
5:23 ‘Call judgment down on 40 Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic 41 messenger;
‘Be sure 42 to call judgment down on 43 those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, 44
to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ 45
5:24 The most rewarded 46 of women should be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite!
She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.
5:25 He asked for water,
and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for a king, 47
she served him curds.
5:26 Her left 48 hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
She “hammered” 49 Sisera,
she shattered his skull, 50
she smashed his head, 51
she drove the tent peg through his temple. 52
5:27 Between her feet he collapsed,
he fell limp 53 and was lifeless; 54
between her feet he collapsed and fell limp,
in the spot where he collapsed,
there he fell limp – violently murdered! 55
5:28 Through the window she looked;
Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?
Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses 56 delayed?’
5:29 The wisest of her ladies 57 answer;
indeed she even thinks to herself,
5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder 58 –
a girl or two for each man to rape! 59
Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, 60
he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, 61
two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,
for the neck of the plunderer!’ 62
5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!
But may those who love you shine
like the rising sun at its brightest!” 63
And the land had rest for forty years.