15. The leaders of Issachar were with Deborah. The family of Issachar was true to Barak. Those men marched to the valley on foot. “Reuben, there are many brave soldiers in your army groups.
16. So why did you sit there against the walls of your sheep pens? The brave soldiers of Reuben thought hard about war. But they stayed home listening to the music they played for their sheep.
17. The people of Gilead stayed in their camps on the other side of the Jordan River. As for you, people of Dan, why did you stay by your ships? The people of Asher remained by the sea, camped near their safe harbors.
18. “But the men of Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives fighting on those hills.
19. The kings of Canaan came to fight, but they didn’t carry any treasures home. They fought at the city of Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.
20. The stars fought them from heaven. From their paths across the sky, they fought against Sisera.
21. The Kishon River, that ancient river, swept Sisera’s men away. My soul, march on with strength!
22. The horses’ hooves hammered the ground. Sisera’s mighty horses ran and ran.
23. “The angel of the Lord said, ‘Curse the city of Meroz. Curse its people! They did not come to help the Lord fight.’ They did not help the Lord against his powerful enemies.
24. Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite. She will be blessed above all women.
25. Sisera asked for water. Jael gave him milk. In a bowl fit for a ruler, she brought him cream.
26. Then Jael reached out and took a tent peg. Her right hand reached for a workman’s hammer. She put the peg against the side of Sisera’s head and hit it with the hammer.
27. He sank down between Jael’s feet. He fell, and there he lay. He sank down between her feet. He fell there. Where Sisera sank, he fell, and there he lay, dead!
28. “There is Sisera’s mother, looking out the window, looking through the curtains and crying. ‘Why is Sisera’s chariot so late? Why can’t I hear his wagons?’
29. “Her wisest servant girl answers her. Yes, the servant gives her an answer:
30. ‘I’m sure they won the war, and they are now taking things from the people they defeated. They are dividing those things among themselves. Each soldier is taking a girl or two. Maybe Sisera found a piece of dyed cloth. That’s it! Sisera found a piece of fancy cloth, or maybe two, to wear around his neck in victory.’
31. “May all your enemies die like this, Lord! But may all those who love you be as strong as the rising sun!” And there was peace in the land for 40 years.