Bible in Basic English
Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel.
Awake! awake! Deborah: awake! awake! give a song: Up! Barak, and take prisoner those who took you prisoner, O son of Abinoam.
Then the chiefs went down to the doors; the Lord's people went down among the strong ones.
Out of Ephraim they came down into the valley; after you, Benjamin, among your tribesmen; from Machir came down the captains, and from Zebulun those in whose hand is the ruler's rod.
Your chiefs, Issachar, were with Deborah; and Naphtali was true to Barak; into the valley they went rushing out at his feet. In Reuben there were divisions, and great searchings of heart.
Why did you keep quiet among the sheep, hearing nothing but the watchers piping to the flocks?
Gilead was living over Jordan; and Dan was waiting in his ships; Asher kept in his place by the sea's edge, living by his inlets.
It was the people of Zebulun who put their lives in danger, even to death, with Naphtali on the high places of the field.
The kings came on to the fight, the kings of Canaan were warring; in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: they took no profit in money.
The stars from heaven were fighting; from their highways they were fighting against Sisera.
The river Kishon took them violently away, stopping their flight, the river Kishon. Give praise, O my soul, to the strength of the Lord!
Then loudly the feet of the horses were sounding with the stamping, the stamping of their war-horses.
A curse, a curse on Meroz! said the angel of the Lord. A bitter curse on her townspeople! Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the strong ones.
Blessings be on Jael, more than on all women! Blessings greater than on any in the tents!
His request was for water, she gave him milk; she put butter before him on a fair plate.
She put out her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and she gave Sisera a blow, crushing his head, wounding and driving through his brow.
Bent at her feet he went down, he was stretched out; bent at her feet he went down; where he was bent down, there he went down in death.
Looking out from the window she gave a cry, the mother of Sisera was crying out through the window, Why is his carriage so long in coming? When will the noise of his wheels be sounding?
Her wise women gave answer to her, yes, she made answer again to herself,
Are they not getting, are they not parting the goods among them: a young girl or two to every man; and to Sisera robes of coloured needlework, worked in fair colours on this side and on that, for the neck of the queen?
So may destruction come on all your haters, O Lord; but let your lovers be like the sun going out in his strength. And for forty years the land had peace.
— Judges 5:11-1964, Bible in Basic English
“Hear the sound of those who divide the sheep among the watering places; there they tell of the LORD’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors in Israel. Then the LORD’s people went down to the city gates– Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Get up, Barak! Capture your prisoners of war, son of Abinoam! Then the survivors came down to the mighty ones; the LORD’s people came down to me as warriors. They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, they follow after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers. From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came the ones who march carrying an officer’s staff. Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, the men of Issachar supported Barak; into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. Among the clans of Reuben there was intense heart searching. Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks? As for the clans of Reuben– there was intense searching of heart. Gilead stayed put beyond the Jordan River. As for Dan– why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? Asher remained on the seacoast, he stayed by his harbors. The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; Naphtali charged on to the battlefields. Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought, at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no silver as plunder. From the sky the stars fought, from their paths in the heavens they fought against Sisera. The Kishon River carried them off; the river confronted them– the Kishon River. Step on the necks of the strong! The horses’ hooves pounded the ground; the stallions galloped madly. ‘Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the LORD’s angel;‘Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there, because they did not come to help in the LORD’s battle, to help in the LORD’s battle against the warriors.’ The most rewarded of women should be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite! She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for a king, she served him curds. Her left hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. She“hammered” Sisera, she shattered his skull, she smashed his head, she drove the tent peg through his temple. Between her feet he collapsed, he fell limp and was lifeless; between her feet he collapsed and fell, in the spot where he collapsed, there he fell– violently killed! Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:‘Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses delayed?’ The wisest of her ladies answer; indeed she even thinks to herself, ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder– a girl or two for each man to rape! Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth, for the neck of the plunderer!’ May all your enemies perish like this, O LORD! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!” And the land had rest for forty years.”
They had no one to make arms, there were no more armed men in the towns; was there a body-cover or a spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
Come, you rulers of Israel, you who gave yourselves freely among the people: give praise to the Lord.
Let them give thought to it, who go on white asses, and those who are walking on the road.
Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel.
Awake! awake! Deborah: awake! awake! give a song: Up! Barak, and take prisoner those who took you prisoner, O son of Abinoam.
Then the chiefs went down to the doors; the Lord's people went down among the strong ones.
Out of Ephraim they came down into the valley; after you, Benjamin, among your tribesmen; from Machir came down the captains, and from Zebulun those in whose hand is the ruler's rod.
Your chiefs, Issachar, were with Deborah; and Naphtali was true to Barak; into the valley they went rushing out at his feet. In Reuben there were divisions, and great searchings of heart.
Why did you keep quiet among the sheep, hearing nothing but the watchers piping to the flocks?
Gilead was living over Jordan; and Dan was waiting in his ships; Asher kept in his place by the sea's edge, living by his inlets.
It was the people of Zebulun who put their lives in danger, even to death, with Naphtali on the high places of the field.
The kings came on to the fight, the kings of Canaan were warring; in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: they took no profit in money.
The stars from heaven were fighting; from their highways they were fighting against Sisera.
The river Kishon took them violently away, stopping their flight, the river Kishon. Give praise, O my soul, to the strength of the Lord!
Then loudly the feet of the horses were sounding with the stamping, the stamping of their war-horses.
A curse, a curse on Meroz! said the angel of the Lord. A bitter curse on her townspeople! Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the strong ones.
Blessings be on Jael, more than on all women! Blessings greater than on any in the tents!
His request was for water, she gave him milk; she put butter before him on a fair plate.
She put out her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and she gave Sisera a blow, crushing his head, wounding and driving through his brow.
Bent at her feet he went down, he was stretched out; bent at her feet he went down; where he was bent down, there he went down in death.
Looking out from the window she gave a cry, the mother of Sisera was crying out through the window, Why is his carriage so long in coming? When will the noise of his wheels be sounding?
Her wise women gave answer to her, yes, she made answer again to herself,
Are they not getting, are they not parting the goods among them: a young girl or two to every man; and to Sisera robes of coloured needlework, worked in fair colours on this side and on that, for the neck of the queen?
So may destruction come on all your haters, O Lord; but let your lovers be like the sun going out in his strength. And for forty years the land had peace.