Abimelech Seizes Power
1Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s relatives, and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s father, 2“Ask all the leading men of Shechem this: which is better for you — that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? And remember, I am your own flesh and blood.” 3His mother’s relatives spoke all these words about him to the leading men of Shechem, and their hearts inclined toward Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless, worthless men, who followed him. 5He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on a single stone. Only Jotham, Jerubbaal’s youngest son, was left, because he had hidden himself. 6Then all the leading men of Shechem and all of Beth-millo gathered together and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.
Jotham’s Fable
7When this was reported to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called out, “Listen to me, leading men of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8The trees once went out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my oil, which honors both gods and men, in order to sway back and forth above the other trees?’ 10Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come, reign over us.’ 11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, in order to sway back and forth above the other trees?’ 12Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come, reign over us.’ 13But the vine said to them, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, in order to sway back and forth above the other trees?’ 14Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come, reign over us.’ 15The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you are truly anointing me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ 16Now then, have you acted in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king? Have you dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house? Have you repaid him as his deeds deserve? 17My father fought for you; he risked his own life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18But today you have risen up against my father’s house, killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the leading men of Shechem, because he is your brother. 19If, then, you have acted today in truth and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his house, may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you. 20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading men of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come out from the leading men of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” 21Then Jotham fled and made his way to Beer, and he settled there, out of fear of his brother Abimelech.
The Fall of Abimelech
22Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. 23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leading men of Shechem, and the leading men of Shechem betrayed Abimelech, 24so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come back, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leading men of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers. 25The leading men of Shechem set ambushes for him on the hilltops, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. This was reported to Abimelech. 26Now Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and moved into Shechem, and the leading men of Shechem put their trust in him. 27They went out into the fields, gathered the grapes from their vineyards, trod them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, with Zebul as his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem! Why should we serve Abimelech? 29If only this people were under my command, I would get rid of Abimelech.” Then he said to Abimelech, “Muster your army and come out and fight!” 30When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he burned with anger. 31He sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. 32Now then, get up by night, you and the troops with you, and lie in wait in the fields. 33In the morning, at sunrise, move quickly and attack the city. When Gaal and the troops with him come out against you, deal with them as the situation allows.” 34So Abimelech and all the troops with him got up by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 35Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelech and the troops with him rose up from the ambush. 36When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the hilltops!” Zebul said to him, “You are only seeing the shadows of the hills, mistaking them for men.” 37But Gaal spoke again, “Look, people are coming down from the central hill, and another company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.” 38Zebul said to him, “Where is your big talk now — you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the very army you despised? Go out now and fight them!” 39So Gaal went out at the head of the leading men of Shechem and fought Abimelech. 40Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; many fell wounded all the way to the entrance of the gate. 41Abimelech stayed at Arumah, while Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out, so that they could no longer live in Shechem. 42The next day the people went out into the fields, and this was reported to Abimelech. 43He took his troops, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose up against them and struck them down. 44Abimelech and the company with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate, while the other two companies rushed against all who were in the fields and struck them down. 45Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he captured it, killed the people in it, tore it down, and sowed the site with salt. 46When all the leading men of the Tower of Shechem heard this, they took refuge in the stronghold of the temple of El-berith. 47Abimelech was told that all the leading men of the Tower of Shechem had gathered there. 48So he went up Mount Zalmon, he and all the troops with him. He took an axe in his hand, cut a branch from the trees, lifted it onto his shoulder, and said to the troops with him, “Quick, do what you have seen me do.” 49So all the troops likewise cut branches and followed Abimelech; they piled them against the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire over the people inside. So all the people of the Tower of Shechem died too, about a thousand men and women. 50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it. 51But there was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men and women, all the leading citizens of the city, fled to it, shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. 52Abimelech came to the tower and attacked it. As he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire, 53a woman threw an upper millstone down on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. 54He quickly called the young man who carried his weapons and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that no one will say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his young man ran him through, and he died. 55When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home, each to his own place. 56So God repaid the evil Abimelech had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers, 57and God also repaid all the evil of the men of Shechem on their own heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
