Judges 5:20–31

²⁰From the heavens the stars fought;

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

²¹The River Kishon swept them away,

the ancient river, the River Kishon.

March on, O my soul, in strength!

²²Then the hooves of horses thundered—

the mad 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 against the mighty.’

²⁴Most blessed among women is Jael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite,

most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk.

In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

²⁶She reached for the tent peg,

her right hand for the workman’s hammer.

She struck Sisera and crushed his skull;

she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷At her feet he collapsed, he fell,

there he lay still;

at her feet he collapsed, he fell;

where he collapsed, there he fell dead.

²⁸Sisera’s mother looked through the window;

she peered through the lattice and lamented:

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’

²⁹Her wisest ladies answer;

indeed she keeps telling herself,

³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—

a girl or two for each warrior,

a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera,

the spoil of embroidered garments

for the neck of the looter?’

³¹So may all Your enemies perish,

O LORD!

But may those who love You

shine like the sun at its brightest.”

And the land had rest for forty years.