Judges 9
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.