1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his
mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house
of his mother's father, saying,
2 Speak,
I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better
for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore
and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that
I am your
bone and your flesh.
3 And
his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all
these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our
brother.
4 And
they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of
Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.
5 And
he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of
Jerubbaal, being threescore
and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of
Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
6 And
all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went,
and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in
Shechem.
7 And
when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the
top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them,
Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
8 The
trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they
said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
9 But
the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they
honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
10 And
the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
11 But
the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit,
and go to be promoted over the trees?
12 Then
said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
13 And
the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man,
and go to be promoted over the trees?
14 Then
said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign
over us.
15 And
the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put
your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and
devour the cedars of Lebanon.
16 Now
therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech
king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done
unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
17 (For
my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of
the hand of Midian:
18 And
ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons,
threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of
his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your
brother;)
19 If
ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this
day, then rejoice
ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
20 But
if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and
the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the
house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
21 And
Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of
Abimelech his brother.
22 When
Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
23 Then
God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men
of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
24 That
the cruelty done to
the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid
upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem,
which aided him in the killing of his brethren.
25 And
the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and
they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.
26 And
Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the
men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27 And
they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of
their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
28 And
Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem,
that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his
officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve
him?
29 And
would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And
he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
30 And
when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his
anger was kindled.
31 And
he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed
and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against
thee.
32 Now
therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with
thee, and lie in wait in the field:
33 And
it shall be, that in
the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the
city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with
him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find
occasion.
34 And
Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait
against Shechem in four companies.
35 And
Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the
city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with
him, from lying in wait.
36 And
when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from
the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the
mountains as if they were men.
37 And
Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the
land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.
38 Then
said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst,
Who is Abimelech,
that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast
despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.
39 And
Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40 And
Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto
the entering of the gate.
41 And
Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that
they should not dwell in Shechem.
42 And
it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and
they told Abimelech.
43 And
he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the
field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he
rose up against them, and smote them.
44 And
Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in
the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies
ran upon all the people that were in
the fields, and slew them.
45 And
Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew
the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and
sowed it with salt.
46 And
when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god
Berith.
47 And
it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered
together.
48 And
Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with
him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the
trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the
people that were with
him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
49 And
all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech,
and put them to
the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of
Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
50 Then
went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
51 But
there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and
women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of
the tower.
52 And
Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the
door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53 And
a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to
brake his skull.
54 Then
he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw
thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young
man thrust him through, and he died.
55 And
when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man
unto his place.
56 Thus
God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in
slaying his seventy brethren:
57 And
all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon
them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
