2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,

For that the people offered themselves willingly,

Bless you Yahweh.

3 Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes;

I, even I, will sing to Yahweh;

I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

4 Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir,

When you marched out of the field of Edom,

The earth trembled, the sky also dropped,

Yes, the clouds dropped water.

5 The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh,

Even yon Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,

In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,

The travelers walked through byways.

7 The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,

Until that I Deborah arose,

That I arose a mother 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 toward the governors of Israel,

Who offered themselves willingly among the people:

Bless you Yahweh.

10 Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,

You who sit on rich carpets,

You who walk by the way.

11 Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,

There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh,

Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.

Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.

12 Awake, awake, Deborah;

Awake, awake, utter a song:

Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.

13 Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people;

Yahweh came down for me against the mighty.

14 Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek;

After you, Benjamin, among your peoples;

Out of Machir came down governors,

Out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal’s staff.

15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

As was Issachar, so was Barak;

Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.

By the watercourses of Reuben

There were great resolves of heart.

16 Why sat you among the sheepfolds,

To hear the whistling for the flocks?

At the watercourses of Reuben

There were great searchings of heart.

17 Gilead abode beyond the Jordan:

Dan, why did he remain in ships?

Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,

Abode by his creeks.

18 Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death,

Naphtali, on the high places of the field.

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 sky the stars fought,

From their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 The river Kishon swept them away,

That ancient river, the river Kishon.

My soul, march on with strength.

22 Then did the horse hoofs stamp

By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

23 Curse you Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh.

Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it,

Because they didn’t come to the help of Yahweh,

To the help of Yahweh against the mighty.

24 Blessed above women shall Jael be,

The wife of Heber the Kenite;

Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

25 He asked water, and she gave him milk;

She brought him butter in a lordly dish.

26 She put her hand to the tent-pin,

Her right hand to the workmen’s hammer;

With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head;

Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples.

27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;

At her feet he bowed, he fell;

Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried,

The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice,

Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?

29 Her wise ladies answered her,

Yes, she returned answer to herself,

30 Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?

A lady, two ladies to every man;

To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments,

A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,

Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?

31 So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh:

But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might.