דבורה הנביאה

And Devora, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidot, she judged Yisra᾽el at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Devora between Rama and Bet-el in mount Efrayim: and the children of Yisra᾽el came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Baraq the son of Avino῾am out of Qedesh-naftali, and said to him, Has not the Lord God of Yisra᾽el commanded, saying, Go and gather your men to mount Tavor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naftali and of the children of Zevulun? And I will draw out to thee to the wadi of Qishon, Sisera, the captain of Yavin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand. And Baraq said to her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: however thou shalt scarcely attain honour on the journey that thou goest; for the Lord shall yield Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Devora arose, and went with Baraq to Qedesh.

Then sang Devora and Baraq the son of Avino῾am on that day, saying, In time of tumultuous strife in Yisra᾽el when the people willingly offered themselves; praise the Lord. Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; I will sing to the Lord; I will intone a melody to the God of Yisra᾽el. Lord, when Thou didst go out of Se῾ir, when Thou didst march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. The mountains melted from before the Lord, that Sinay before the Lord God of Yisra᾽el. In the days of Shamgar the son of ῾Anat, in the days of Ya᾽el, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through crooked byways. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Yisra᾽el, until I Devora arose, I arose a mother in Yisra᾽el. They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Yisra᾽el? My heart goes out to the governors of Yisra᾽el, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord! You that ride on tawny she asses, you that sit on couches, and you that walk by the way, tell the tale. Louder than the voice of the archers; in the places of drawing water, there let them recite the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Yisra᾽el: when the people of the Lord went down to the gates. Awake, awake, Devora: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Baraq, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Avino῾am. Then he made a remnant have dominion over the nobles of the people: the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty ones. From Efrayim came they, but rooted in ῾Amaleq, beyond thee, Binyamin with thy tribes; from Makhir came down leaders, and from Zevulun, those that handle the marshal’s staff. And the princes of Yissakhar were with Devora; as was Yissakhar, so was Baraq. Into the valley they rushed forth, at his feet. In the divisions of Re᾽uven, great were the resolves. Why then didst thou sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Re᾽uven, great were the heart searchings. Gil῾ad dwells beyond the Yarden: and why did Dan remain by the ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode by his bays. Zevulun was a people that jeoparded their lives to the death and Naftali likewise, on the high places of the field. The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Kena῾an in Ta῾nakh by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of silver. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The wadi of Qishon swept them away, that ancient brook, the brook of Qishon. O my soul, march on in strength. Then did the horsehoofs beat from the frantic galloping of his mighty ones. Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants; because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty men. Blessed above women is Ya᾽el the wife of Ĥever the Qenite, blessed is she more than women in the tent. He asked water, but she gave him milk; she brought forth cream in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and she hammered Sisera, she smote through his head; she crushed and pierced his temple. At her feet he bent, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bent, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down, bereft of life. The mother of Sisera looked out at the window, and moaned through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his steeds so tardy? Her wise ladies answered her, she even returned answer to herself, Have they not found booty? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a booty of divers colours, a plunder of many coloured needlework, dyed double worked garments for the necks of the spoilers. So let all Thy enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love him be as the sun when it comes out in its might. And the land was quiet for forty years.