Strophe
Men.
The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan,
In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:—
They took no gain of money!
Antistrophe
Women.
They fought from heaven,
The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
The river Kishon swept them away,—
That ancient river, the river Kishon!
Strophe
Men.
O my soul, march on with strength!
Then did the horsehoofs stamp
By reason of the pransings,
The pransings of their strong ones.
Antistrophe
Women.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty!
4. The Retribution
Strophe
Men.
Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent!
He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail,
And her right hand to the workman's hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera.
She smote through his head,
Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay:
At her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead!
Antistrophe
Women.
Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice,
"Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?"
Her wise ladies answered her,
Yea, she returned answer to herself,
"Have they not found,
Have they not divided the spoil?
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera a spoil of divers colours,
A spoil of divers colours of embroidery,
Of divers colours of embroidery on both sides, on the necks of the spoil!"
Tutti.
So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might!
DAVID'S LAMENT
Thy glory, O Israel,
Is slain upon thy high places!
How are the mighty—
Fallen!