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Judges 4:1-5:31

Rise, Deborah

Lyrics · Judges

Rise, Deborah

Judges 4:1-5:31

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Judges collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Judges
Collection
Judges
Musical styles
World Music
[Verse 1] Nine hundred iron chariots held the roads beneath their fear, Village life had emptied out and travelers disappeared. Beneath the palm sat Deborah, a prophet judging Israel, She called for Barak from Kedesh and told where Sisera would fall. [Pre-Chorus] Ten thousand climbed Mount Tabor, And the Kishon waited low. [Chorus] Rise, Deborah, rise and sing, The LORD has gone before the willing. Chariots sink where the river runs, Let those who love Him rise like the sun. [Verse 2] Barak would not go without her, so she walked beside the men, But honor for the final blow would rest upon a woman's hand. God broke Sisera's formation; he left iron wheels to flee, Jael drew him beneath her covering, then ended his command. [Bridge] Bless the tribes that came to battle, name the ones who stayed away, Stars fought high above the river, Kishon swept the host astray. Meroz heard the curse of silence, Jael heard the song of praise, While Sisera's mother watched the road and waited through the fading day. [Final Chorus] Rise, Deborah, rise and sing, The LORD has gone before the willing. Chariots sink where the river runs, Let those who love Him rise like the sun. [Outro] The iron wheels went silent, And the land had rest again.

Named in this songDeborahBarakJael

About the passage

Judges 4: Deborah, Barak, and Jael defeat Sisera

Judges 4 places Deborah, Barak, Sisera, and Jael inside a reversal of apparent strength. Deborah is already judging Israel when she summons Barak with the LORD’s command. Sisera possesses nine hundred iron chariots, the kind of military advantage that earlier seemed immovable, yet Deborah announces the day of deliverance and Barak descends from Mount Tabor. Sisera’s army collapses, and the commander abandons his chariot to flee on foot. He seeks safety in Jael’s tent because of peace between households, only to die there by a tent peg in the hands of the woman controlling the encounter. The chapter closes by widening the lens from one tent to Jabin’s whole power. What looked secure in army, alliance, and technology is steadily stripped away.

Study Judges 4 in depth

Judges 5: A victory song remembers courage, hesitation, and deliverance

Judges 5 retells the victory of chapter 4 as song, and poetry changes what comes into focus. Deborah and Barak praise the LORD alongside leaders and people who willingly offered themselves. The remembered crisis is social as well as military: highways empty, travelers use byways, village life ceases, and war reaches the gates. The tribal roll call then turns participation into a moral map. Some tribes come, Reuben searches his heart without moving, and others remain with ships, sheepfolds, or shore. The battle itself expands into cosmic and natural imagery as stars fight and Kishon sweeps enemies away. Jael is blessed, while Sisera’s mother waits at a window and imagines plunder, including captive women. The song ends with forty years of rest and a sharp contrast between the LORD’s enemies and those who love him.

Study Judges 5 in depth