Judges 5:4-23

⁴O Yahweh, when you came from Seir, when you marched from that land better known as Edom, the earth shook, and rain poured down from the skies.

⁵The mountains shook when you came, just like Sinai Mountain shook when you appeared there, because you are Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship.

⁶When Shamgar was our leader and when Jael ruled us, we were afraid to walk on the main roads; instead, caravans of travelers walked on winding less traveled roads to avoid being molested.

⁷People left their small villages, and moved into the walled cities until I, Deborah, became their leader. I became like a mother to the Israeli people.

⁸When the Israeli people abandoned Yahweh and chose new gods, enemies attacked the gates of the cities, and then they took away the shields and spears from 40,000 Israeli soldiers. Not one shield or spear was left.

⁹I am thankful for the leaders and soldiers who volunteered to fight. Praise Yahweh for them!

¹⁰You wealthy people who ride on donkeys, sitting on nice padded saddles, and you people who just walk on the road, you all listen!

¹¹Listen to the voices of the singers who gather at the places where the animals drink water. They tell about how Yahweh acted righteously when he enabled the Israeli warriors to conquer their enemies. Yahweh's people marched down to the gates of our city.

¹²The people came to my house and shouted, “Deborah, wake up! Wake up and start singing!” They also shouted, “Barak, son of Abinoam, get up, and capture our enemies!”

¹³Later, some of the Israeli people came down from Tabor Mountain with us, their leaders. These men who belonged to Yahweh came with me to fight their strong enemies.

¹⁴Some came from the tribe descended from Ephraim. They came from land that once belonged to the descendants of Amalek. And men from the tribe descended from Benjamin followed them. Troops from the group descended from Makir also came down, and officers from the tribe descended from Zebulun came down, carrying staffs.

¹⁵Leaders from the tribes descended from Issachar joined Barak and me. They followed Barak, rushing down into the valley. But men from the tribe descended from Reuben could not decide whether or not to join us.

¹⁶Why did you men stay at your sheep pens, waiting to hear the shepherds whistle for their flocks of sheep to come to the pens? Men in the tribe descended from Reuben could not decide whether they would join us to fight our enemies, or not.

¹⁷Similarly, the men living in the Gilead area stayed at home, east of the Jordan River. And the men from the tribe descended from Dan, why did they stay home? The tribe descended from Asher sat by the seashore. They stayed in their coves.

¹⁸But men from the tribe descended from Zebulun risked ◄their lives/were ready to die fighting► on the battlefield, and men descended from Naphtali were ready to do that, also.

¹⁹The kings of Canaan fought us at Taanach, near the springs in Megiddo Valley. But since they did not defeat us, they did not carry away any silver or other treasures from the battle.

²⁰It was as though the stars in the sky fought for us and as though those stars in their paths fought against Sisera.

²¹The Kishon River swept them away— that river that has been there for ages. I will tell myself to be brave and continue marching on.

²²The hooves of the horses of Sisera's army pounded the ground. Those powerful horses kept galloping along.

²³The angel sent by Yahweh said, “Curse the people of Meroz town, because they did not come to help Yahweh to defeat the mighty warriors of Canaan.”