Judges 9
9
1And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his mother's brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his mother's father, saying:
2Speak to all the men of Sichem: Whether is better for you that seventy men all the sons of Jerobaal should rule over you, or that one man should rule over you? And withal consider that I am your bone, and your flesh.
3And his mother's brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem, all these words: and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying: He is our brother.
4And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and vagabonds, and they followed him.
5And he came to his father's house in Ephra, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone. And there remained only Joatham the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.
6And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello. And they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak that stood in Sichem.
7This being told to Joatham, he went and stood on the top of mount Garizim. And lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you.
8The trees went to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive-tree: Reign thou over us.
9And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?
10And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.
11And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?
12And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.
13And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men, and be promoted among the other trees?
14And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us.
15And it answered them: If indeed you mean to make me king, come ye and rest under my shadow. But if you mean it not, let fire come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.
16Now therefore if you have done well, and without sin in appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal, and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of him, who fought for you,
17And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hands of Madian:
18And you are now risen up against my father's house, and have killed his sons seventy men upon one stone, and have made Abimelech the son of his handmaid king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because he is your brother:
19If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault with Jerobaal, and his house, rejoice ye this day in Abimelech: and may he rejoice in you.
20But if unjustly: Let fire come out from him, and consume the inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from the men of Sichem, and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech.
21And when he had said thus he fled and went into Bera: and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22So Abimelech reigned over Israel for three years.
23And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem: who began to detest him,
24And to leave the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood upon Abimelech their brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided him.
25And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains: and while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking spoils of all that passed by. And it was told Abimelech.
26And Gaal the son of Obed came with his brethren, and went over to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming,
27Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading down the grapes. And singing and dancing they went into the temple of their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.
28And Gaal the son of Obed cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and hath made Zebul his servant ruler over the men of Emor the father of Sichem? Why then shall we serve him?
29Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand, that I might remove Abimelech out of the way! And it was said to Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.
30For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the son of Obed, was very angry,
31And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold Gaal the son of Obed is come into Sichem with his brethren, and endeavoureth to set the city against thee.
32Arise therefore in the night with the people that is with thee and he hid in the field.
33And betimes in the morning at sun-rising set upon the city. And when he shall come out against thee with his people, do to him what thou shalt be able.
34Abimelech therefore arose with all his army by night, and laid ambushes near Sichem in four places.
35And Gaal the son of Obed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and all his army with him from the places of the ambushes.
36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold, a multitude cometh down from the mountains. And he answered him: Thou seest the shadows of the mountains as if they were the heads of men, and this is thy mistake.
37Again Gaal said: Behold there cometh people down from the middle of the land, and one troop cometh by the way that looketh towards the oak.
38And Zebul said to him: Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidst: Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people which thou didst despise? Go out, and fight against him.
39So Gaal went out in the sight of the people of Sichem, and fought against Abimelech,
40Who chased and put him to flight, and drove him to the city. And many were slain of his people, even to the gate of the city:
41And Abimelech sat down in Ruma: but Zebul drove Gaal, and his companions out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in it.
42So the day following, the people went out into the field, And it was told Abimelech.
43And he took his army, and divided it into three companies, and laid ambushes in the fields. And seeing that the people came out of the city, he arose and set upon them,
44With his own company, assaulting and besieging the city: whilst the two other companies chased the enemies that were scattered about the field.
45And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and killed the inhabitants thereof: and demolished it, so that he sowed salt in it.
46And when they who dwelt in the tower of Sichem had heard this, they went into the temple of their god Berith: where they had made a covenant with him, and from thence the place had taken its name. And it was exceeding strong.
47Abimelech also hearing that the men of the tower of Sichem were gathered together,
48Went up into mount Selmon he and all his people with him. And taking an axe, he cut down the bough of a tree, and laying it on his shoulder and carrying it, he said to his companions: What you see me do, do you out of hand.
49So they cut down boughs from the trees, every man as fast as he could, and followed their leader. And surrounding the fort they set it on fire. And so it came to pass that with the smoke and with the fire a thousand persons were killed, men and women together, of the inhabitants of the tower of Sichem.
50Then Abimelech departing from thence came to the town of Thebes, which he surrounded and besieged with his army.
51And there was in the midst of the city a high tower, to which both the men and the women were fled together, and all the princes of the city. And having shut and strongly barred the gate, they stood upon the battlements of the tower to defend themselves.
52And Abimelech, coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and approaching to the gate, endeavoured to set fire to it.
53And, behold a certain woman casting a piece of a millstone from above, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull.
54And he called hastily to his armourbearer, and said to him: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest it should be said that I was slain by a woman. He did as he was commanded, and slew him.
55And when he was dead, all the men of Israel that were with him, returned to their homes.
56And God repaid the evil, that Abimelech had done against his father, killing his seventy brethren.
57The Sichemites also were rewarded for what they had done: and the curse of Joatham the son of Jerobaal came upon them.
Currently Selected:
Judges 9: DRC1752
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Judges 9
9
Abimelech
1Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them 2to ask the men of Shechem, “Which would you prefer? To be governed by all seventy of Gideon's sons or by just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood.” 3His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative. 4They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him. 5He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on the top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed. 6Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.
7When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you! 8Once upon a time the trees got together to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ 9The olive tree answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honour gods and human beings.’ 10Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king.’ 11But the fig tree answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.’ 12So the trees then said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king.’ 13But the vine answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.’ 14So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You come and be our king.’ 15The thorn bush answered, ‘If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’
16“Now then,” Jotham continued, “were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved? 17Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites. 18But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons — seventy men on a single stone — and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem. 19Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. 20But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up.” 21Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.
22Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against him. 24This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime. 25The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountain tops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this.
26Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and spoke scornfully of Abimelech. 28Gaal said, “What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan! 29I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would say#9.29 One ancient translation I would say; Hebrew He said. to him, ‘Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!’ ”
30Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said. 31He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah#9.31 Probable text Arumah; Hebrew unclear. to say, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city. 32Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields. 33Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them as hard as you can!”
34So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups. 35When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places. 36Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, “Look! There are men coming down from the mountain tops!”
“Those are not men,” Zebul answered. “They are just shadows on the mountains.”
37Gaal said again, “Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortune tellers!”
38Then Zebul said to him, “Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were treating so scornfully. Go on out now and fight them.” 39Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech. 40Gaal fled, and Abimelech pursued him. Many were wounded, even at the city gate. 41Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.
42The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields, 43so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them. 44While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all. 45The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt.
46When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant. 47Abimelech was told that they had gathered there, 48so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an axe, cut a branch off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to be quick and do the same thing. 49So every man cut off a branch of a tree; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died — about a thousand men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it. 51There was a strong tower there, and every man and woman in the city, including the leaders, ran to it. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof. 52When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he went up to the door to set the tower on fire. 53#2 Sam 11.21But a woman threw a millstone down on his head and fractured his skull. 54Then he quickly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and ordered, “Draw your sword and kill me. I don't want it said that a woman killed me.” So the young man ran him through, and he died. 55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
56In this way God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.