Judges 5:6-24

6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted because travelers kept to the side roads.

7Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.

8Israel chose new gods, then there was war in the city gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

9My heart is with the leaders of Israel, with the volunteers of the people. Blessed be the Lord!

10You who ride on white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and who travel on the road, give praise!

11Let them tell the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous deeds of his villagers in Israel, with the voices of the singers at the watering places. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.

12“Awake! Awake, Deborah! Awake! Awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and take your prisoners, son of Abinoam!”

13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the Lord’s people came down to me against the warriors.

14Those with their roots in Amalek came from Ephraim; Benjamin came with your people after you. The leaders came down from Machir, and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.

15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; Issachar was with Barak; they were under his leadership in the valley. There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.

16Why did you sit among the sheep pens listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks? There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.

17Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger at the ships? Asher remained at the seashore and stayed in his harbors.

18The people of Zebulun defied death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.

19Kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo, but they did not plunder the silver.

20The stars fought from the heavens; the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.

21The river Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength!

22The horses’ hooves then hammered — the galloping, galloping of his stallions.

23“Curse Meroz,” says the angel of the Lord, “Bitterly curse her inhabitants, for they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord with the warriors.”

24Most blessed of women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.