Judges 9
9
1And Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, 2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, Which is better for you, that seventy persons, all sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? And remember that I am your bone and your flesh. 3And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem all these words. And their heart inclined after Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. 4And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them vain and wanton men, and they followed him. 5And he came to his father's house, to Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons upon one stone; but there remained Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal; for he had hid himself. 6And all the citizens of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the memorial-oak that is in Shechem.
7And they told it to Jotham, and he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them, Hearken to me, ye citizens of Shechem, that God#GodHebrew: Elohim may hearken to you. 8The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive-tree, Reign over us. 9And the olive-tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God#GodHebrew: Elohim and man, and go to wave over the trees? 10And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, reign over us. 11But the fig-tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees? 12Then said the trees to the vine, Come thou, reign over us. 13And the vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God#GodHebrew: Elohim and man, and go to wave over the trees? 14Then said all the trees to the thorn-bush, Come thou, reign over us. 15And the thorn-bush said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, come, put confidence in my shadow; but if not, fire shall come out of the thorn-bush and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 16Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and sincerely in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and if ye have done to him according to the deserving of his hands; 17— for my father fought for you, and endangered his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; 18but ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your brother; 19— if ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; 20but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. 21And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, because of Abimelech his brother.
22And Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. 23And God#GodHebrew: Elohim sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem; and the citizens of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the citizens of Shechem, who had strengthened his hands to slay his brethren. 25And the citizens of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them. And it was told Abimelech. 26And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem; and the citizens of Shechem put confidence in him. 27And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made rejoicings, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is he not the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his overseer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem! and why should we serve him? 29Oh! would that this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. 30And Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger was kindled; 31and he sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem, and behold, they shut up the city against thee; 32and now, rise up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and lie in ambush in the fields. 33And it shall be in the morning when the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and fall upon the city; and behold, he and the people that is with him shall come out against thee, and thou shalt do with him as thou shalt find occasion. 34And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they lay in ambush against Shechem in four companies. 35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Then Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, out of the ambush. 36And Gaal saw the people, and said to Zebul, Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as men. 37And Gaal spoke again, and said, Behold, people are coming down from the high part of the land, and one company is coming along by the way of the Magician's oak. 38Then said Zebul to him, Where is now thy mouth, thou that saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight against them. 39And Gaal went out before the citizens of Shechem, and fought against Abimelech. 40And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, as far as the entrance of the gate. 41And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah. And Zebul drove out Gaal and his brethren, that they might not dwell in Shechem. 42And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and lay in ambush in the field. And he looked, and behold, the people came forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them. 44And Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and two of the companies ran upon all that were in the fields, and slew them. 45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that were in it, and broke down the city, and sowed it with salt. 46And all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, and they entered into the stronghold of the house of the god#godHebrew: el Berith. 47And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem had gathered together. 48Then Abimelech went 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 up and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people that was with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, do as I have done. 49And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and they followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and burned the hold with fire upon them. And all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
50And Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51But there was a strong tower in the midst of the city, and thither fled all the men and women, all the citizens of the city; and they shut it behind them, and went up to the roof of the tower. 52And Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and he drew near to the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire; 53and a woman cast the upper stone of a handmill on Abimelech's head, and crushed his skull. 54Then he called hastily to the young man that carried his armour, and said to him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that they say not of me, A woman killed him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. 55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went every man to his place. 56And God#GodHebrew: Elohim rendered back the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father in slaying his seventy brethren. 57And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God#GodHebrew: Elohim render back upon their heads; and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
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Judges 9: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Judges 9
9
Abimelech Becomes King
1Abimelech son of Gideon went to his uncles in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother’s family group, 2“Ask the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over you or for one man to rule?’ Remember, I am your relative.”
3Abimelech’s uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about this. And they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, “He is our relative.” 4So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-quarter pounds of silver from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men, who followed him wherever he went. 5He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped. 6Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree standing in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.
Jotham’s Story
7When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted to the people: “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God will listen to you! 8One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘You be king over us!’
9“But the olive tree said, ‘Men and gods are honored by my oil. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the other trees?’
10“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be king over us!’
11“But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit and go and sway over the other trees?’
12“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be king over us!’
13“But the vine answered, ‘My new wine makes men and gods happy. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the trees?’
14“Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be king over us.’
15“But the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to appoint me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade! But if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon!’
16“Now, were you completely honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Have you been fair to Gideon and his family? Have you treated Gideon as you should? 17Remember, my father fought for you and risked his life to save you from the power of the Midianites. 18But now you have turned against my father’s family and have killed his seventy sons on one stone. You have made Abimelech, the son of my father’s slave girl, king over the leaders of Shechem just because he is your relative! 19So then, if you have been honest and sincere to Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you! 20But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech!”
21Then Jotham ran away and escaped to the city of Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
Abimelech Fights Against Shechem
22Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23Then God sent an evil spirit to make trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem so that the leaders of Shechem turned against him. 24Abimelech had killed Gideon’s seventy sons, his own brothers, and the leaders of Shechem had helped him. So God sent the evil spirit to punish them. 25The leaders of Shechem were against Abimelech then. They put men on the hilltops in ambush who robbed everyone going by. And Abimelech was told.
26A man named Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers moved into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem trusted him. 27They went out to the vineyards to pick grapes, and they squeezed the grapes. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. 28Gaal son of Ebed said, “We are the men of Shechem. Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Isn’t he one of Gideon’s sons, and isn’t Zebul his officer? We should serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father. Why should we serve Abimelech? 29If you made me commander of these people, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready and come out to battle.’ ”
30Now when Zebul, the ruler of Shechem, heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. 31He sent secret messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal’s brothers have come to Shechem, and they are turning the city against you! 32You and your men should get up during the night and hide in the fields outside the city. 33As soon as the sun comes up in the morning, attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to them.”
34So Abimelech and all his soldiers got up during the night and hid near Shechem in four groups. 35Gaal son of Ebed went out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate. As he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places.
36When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the mountains!”
But Zebul said, “You are seeing the shadows of the mountains. The shadows just look like people.”
37But again Gaal said, “Look, there are people coming down from the center of the land, and there is a group coming from the fortune-tellers’ tree!”
38Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your bragging now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ You made fun of these men. Now go out and fight them.”
39So Gaal led the men of Shechem out to fight Abimelech. 40Abimelech and his men chased them, and many of Gaal’s men were killed before they could get back to the city gate. 41While Abimelech stayed at Arumah, Zebul forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
42The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields. When Abimelech was told about it, 43he separated his men into three groups and hid them in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he jumped up and attacked them. 44Abimelech and his group ran to the entrance gate to the city. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and struck them down. 45Abimelech and his men fought the city of Shechem all day until they captured it and killed its people. Then he tore it down and threw salt over the ruins.
The Tower of Shechem Burns
46When the leaders who were in the Tower of Shechem heard what had happened to Shechem, they gathered in the safest room of the temple of El Berith. 47Abimelech heard that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem had gathered there. 48So he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon, near Shechem. Abimelech took an ax and cut some branches and put them on his shoulders. He said to all those with him, “Hurry! Do what I have done!” 49So all those men cut branches and followed Abimelech and piled them against the safest room of the temple. Then they set them on fire and burned the people inside. So all the people who were at the Tower of Shechem also died—about a thousand men and women.
Abimelech’s Death
50Then Abimelech went to the city of Thebez. He surrounded the city, attacked it, and captured it. 51But inside the city was a strong tower, so all the men, women, and leaders of that city ran to the tower. When they got inside, they locked the door behind them. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower. 52Abimelech came to the tower to attack it. He approached the door of the tower to set it on fire, 53but as he came near, a woman dropped a grinding stone on his head, crushing his skull.
54He quickly called to the officer who carried his armor and said, “Take out your sword and kill me. I don’t want people to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.’ ” So the officer stabbed Abimelech, and he died. 55When the people of Israel saw Abimelech was dead, they all returned home.
56In that way God punished Abimelech for all the evil he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. 57God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil they had done. So the curse spoken by Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, came true.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.