Study Desk

^(a)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

"^(b)That ^[a]the leaders led in Israel, That ^(c)the people volunteered, Bless the Lord !

"Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! ^(d)I—to the Lord , I will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord , the God of Israel.

"^(e) Lord , when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, ^(f)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, Even the clouds dripped water.

"^(g)The mountains ^[b]quaked at the presence of the Lord , ^(h)This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord , the God of Israel.

"In the days of ⁽ⁱ⁾Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of ^(j)Jael, the highways ^[c]were deserted, And travelers ^[d]went by ^[e]roundabout ways.

"The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

"^(k)New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.

"My heart goes out to ^(l)the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the Lord !

"^(m)You who ride on ^[f]white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, And you who travel on the road—^[g]sing!

"At the sound of those who divide flocks among ⁽ⁿ⁾the watering places, There they shall recount ^(o)the righteous deeds of the Lord , The righteous deeds for His ^[h]peasantry in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down ^(p)to the gates.

"^(q)Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, ^[i]sing a song! Arise, Barak, and ^(r)take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

"Then survivors came down to the nobles; The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.

"From Ephraim those whose root is ^(s)in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of ^[j]office.

"And the ^[k]princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed ^(t)at his ^[l]heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.

"Why did you sit among ^(u)the ^[m]sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

"^(v)Gilead ^[n]remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And ^[o]remained by its landings.

"^(w)Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

"^(x)The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan ^(y)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; ^(z)They took no plunder in silver.

"^(aa)The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera.

"The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. ^(ab)O my soul, march on with strength.

"^(ac)Then the horses' hoofs beat From the dashing, the dashing of his ^[p]valiant steeds.

‘Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord , ‘Utterly curse its inhabitants; ^(ad)Because they did not come to the help of the Lord , To the help of the Lord against the warriors.'

"^(ae)Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent.

"He asked for water and she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

"She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen's hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple.

"Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell ^[q]dead.

"Out of the window she looked and lamented, The mother of Sisera through the ^[r]lattice, ‘Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the ^[s]hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?'

"Her wise princesses would answer her, Indeed she repeats her words to herself,

‘^(af)Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil? A maiden, two maidens for every warrior; To Sisera a spoil of dyed work, A spoil of dyed work embroidered, Dyed work of double embroidery on the ^[t]neck of the spoiler?'

"^(ag)Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord ; ^(ah)But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." And the land was undisturbed for forty years.