⁶ “In the days of ^(I)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of ^(J)Jael, the roads ^[c]were deserted,
And travelers went by ^[d]roundabout ways.
⁷ The ^[e]peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
^8 (K)New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
⁹ My heart goes out to ^(L)the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the Lord!
^10 (M)You who ride on ^[f]white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!
¹¹ At the sound of those who distribute water among ^(N)the watering places,
There they will recount ^(O)the righteous deeds of the Lord,
The righteous deeds for His ^[g]peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down ^(P)to the gates.

¹² “^(Q)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, ^[h]sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and ^(R)lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
¹³ Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.
¹⁴ 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 ^[i]office.
¹⁵ And the ^[j]princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed ^(T)at his ^[k]heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great determinations of heart.
¹⁶ Why did you sit among ^(U)the ^[l]sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
^17 (V)Gilead ^[m]remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay on ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And ^[n]remained by its landings.
^18 (W)Zebulun was a people who risked their lives,
And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.

¹⁹ “^(X)The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
^(Y)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
^(Z)They took no plunder in silver.
^20 (AA)The stars fought from heaven,
From their paths they fought against Sisera.
²¹ The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
^(AB)My soul, march on with strength!
^22 (AC)Then the horses’ hoofs beat
From the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.
²³ ‘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.’

²⁴ “^(AE)Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
²⁵ He asked for water, she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
²⁶ 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.
²⁷ Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell ^[o]dead.

²⁸ “Out of the window she looked and wailed,
The mother of Sisera through the ^[p]lattice,
‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the ^[q]hoofbeats of his chariots delay?’
²⁹ Her wise princesses would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
³⁰ ‘^(AF)Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoils?
A concubine, two concubines for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed cloth,
A spoil of dyed cloth embroidered,
Dyed cloth of double embroidery on the ^[r]neck of the plunderer?’
^31 (AG)May all Your enemies perish in this way, Lord;
^(AH)But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”