Judges 9
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13
14 15
16 17
18 19
20 21
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.
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