“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
Parallel translations
- KJV 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. And the land had rest forty years.
- BSB So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
- NKJV “Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But let those who love Him be like the sun When it comes out in full strength.” So the land had rest for forty years.
- NASB “May all Your enemies perish in this way, Lord; But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was at rest for forty years.
- NLT “Lord, may all your enemies die like Sisera! But may those who love you rise like the sun in all its power!” Then there was peace in the land for forty years.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The song closes praying that all God's enemies perish while those who love Him shine like the rising sun, followed by forty years of peace.
Overview
Deborah's song ends with a prayer that contrasts the doom of God's enemies with the radiant flourishing of those who love Him. The promised rest of forty years shows God's faithfulness to deliver and bless His repentant people. The image of the rising sun anticipates the glory of the righteous, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the 'sun of righteousness' (Malachi 4:2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- Ps 37:6he will make your righteousness go out as the light, and your justice as the noon day sun.
- 2 Sam 23:4shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
- Ps 19:4–5Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
- Dan 12:3Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
- 1 Pet 1:8whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory —
- 1 Cor 8:3But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him.
- Ps 89:36His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.
- Ps 91:14“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
- Jas 1:12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
- Ps 83:9–18Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
- Judg 3:11The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
- Prov 4:18But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- Matt 13:43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- Rom 8:28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
- Hos 6:3Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Ps 97:10You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Ps 97:8Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of your judgments, Yahweh.
- Exod 20:6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- Judg 3:30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. Then the land had rest eighty years.
- Deut 6:5You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- Ps 58:10–11The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
- Ps 92:9For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.
- Ps 48:4–5For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together.
- Ps 68:1–3For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song. Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.
- Eph 6:24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.
- 1 Jn 4:19–21We love him, because he first loved us.
- 1 Jn 5:2–3By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.
- Rev 6:10They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Rev 19:2–3for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”
- Rev 18:20“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 5:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.