The song of Deborah
1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
2‘When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves –
praise the Lord!
3‘Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to5:3 Or of the Lord;
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.
4‘When you, Lord, went out from Seir,
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook, the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.
5The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6‘In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;
travellers took to winding paths.
7Villagers in Israel would not fight;
they held back until I, Deborah, arose,
until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8God chose new leaders
when war came to the city gates,
but not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the willing volunteers among the people.
Praise the Lord!
10‘You who ride on white donkeys,
sitting on your saddle blankets,
and you who walk along the road,
consider 11the voice of the singers5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. at the watering places.
They recite the victories of the Lord,
the victories of his villagers in Israel.
‘Then the people of the Lord
went down to the city gates.
12“Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!
Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.”
13‘The remnant of the nobles came down;
the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek;
Benjamin was with the people who followed you.
From Makir captains came down,
from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. staff.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
yes, Issachar was with Barak,
sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
16Why did you stay among the sheepfolds5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.
And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher remained on the coast
and stayed in his coves.
18The people of Zebulun risked their very lives;
so did Naphtali on the terraced fields.
19‘Kings came, they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,
they took no plunder of silver.
20From the heavens the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21The River Kishon swept them away,
the age-old river, the River Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!
22Then thundered the horses’ hooves –
galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
23“Curse Meroz,” said the angel of the Lord.
“Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty.”
24‘Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27At her feet he sank,
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell – dead.
28‘Through the window peered Sisera’s mother;
behind the lattice she cried out,
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?”
29The wisest of her ladies answer her;
indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30“Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:
a woman or two for each man,
colourful garments as plunder for Sisera,
colourful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garments for my neck –
all this as plunder?”
31‘So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sun
when it rises in its strength.’
Then the land had peace for forty years.
底波拉和巴拉之歌
1那一天，底波拉和巴拉高唱凱歌：
2「以色列的首領身先士卒，
民眾前仆後繼，
你們要讚美耶和華！
3君王和首領啊，請留心細聽！
我要向耶和華歌唱，
我要歌頌以色列的上帝耶和華。
4耶和華啊，當你從西珥出來，
走過以東時，
大地震動，
天上降雨。
5在西奈山的耶和華面前，
在以色列的上帝耶和華面前，
群山震動。
6在亞拿的兒子珊迦與雅億的時代，
大路行人絕跡，
旅客繞道而行。
7我底波拉做以色列之母以前，
以色列的鄉村人煙稀少。
8以色列人選擇新的神明，
便戰禍臨門，
四萬以色列人中找不到一矛一盾。
9我的心追隨以色列的首領，
追隨民中踴躍出征的人。
你們要讚美耶和華！
10「你們騎白驢的、坐繡花毯子的、步行的，
都要傾聽。
11歌樂手聚集在井旁，
傳揚耶和華和祂以色列子民的勝利。
耶和華的子民都來到城門口。
12「底波拉啊，來吧，來吧，
歌唱吧！
亞比挪庵的兒子巴拉啊，來吧，
帶走你的戰俘吧！
13倖存的以色列人回應他們的首領，
耶和華的子民為我攻擊勇士。
14他們有些來自原屬亞瑪力人的以法蓮，
有些來自便雅憫，
統領出自瑪吉，
將官出自西布倫。
15以薩迦的首領與底波拉同往，
以薩迦人隨巴拉同去，
眾人一起衝進山谷，
呂便人卻猶豫不決。
16呂便人為什麼坐在羊圈中聽悠悠笛聲？
他們舉棋不定。
17基列人留在約旦河對岸。
但人為什麼停留在船上？
亞設人在海岸靜坐，
在港口逗留。
18但西布倫人和拿弗他利人卻拼死鏖戰沙場。
19「迦南諸王來戰，
來到米吉多河邊的他納交戰，
卻沒有掠走金銀。
20星辰從天上、從它們的軌道攻擊西西拉。
21古老的基順河沖走了敵人。
我的心啊，要奮勇向前！
22蹄聲隆隆，
駿馬疾馳！
23「耶和華的天使說，
『要咒詛米羅斯，
要重重地咒詛米羅斯的居民，
因為他們沒有幫助耶和華，
沒有幫助耶和華攻擊強敵。』
24「基尼人希百的妻子雅億是婦人中最有福的，
是住帳篷的婦人中最有福的。
25西西拉求水，
雅億給他奶喝，
用珍貴的碗盛上乳酪。
26雅億左手拿起橛子，
右手拿起工匠的錘子，
猛擊西西拉，
打碎了他的頭，
刺透了他的太陽穴。
27西西拉屈身倒下，
死在她腳前，
一動不動地躺在那裡。
28「他母親憑窗遠眺，
隔著窗櫺喊道，
『為什麼他的戰車遲遲不回？
為什麼還聽不到車輪聲？』
29聰明的宮女安慰她，
她卻依然自言自語，
30『莫非他們在搜索、瓜分戰利品？
也許每人得到一兩個少女，
西西拉也會分得從俘虜身上奪來的繡花彩巾。』
31耶和華啊，
願你的敵人都像西西拉一樣滅亡！
願愛你的人如升起的太陽，
光輝熠熠！」
此後，以色列安享太平四十年。
