Judges 9
1 Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,
Gideon’s son Abimelech went to [talk with] his mother’s brothers in Shechem [city]. He said to them and to all his mother’s relatives,
2 “Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
“Ask all the leaders of your city: ‘Do you [think it would be] good for all 70 of Gideon’s sons to rule over you? Or would it be better to have only one of his sons, [me], to rule over you?’ And do not forget that I am your relative! [MTY]”
3 His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.”
So Abimelech’s mother’s brothers spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about what Abimelech had said. They said to each other, “We should allow Abimelech to rule over us, because he is our relative.”
4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and reckless fellows who followed him.
So the leaders of Shechem took from the temple of [their god] Baal-Berith (almost 2 pounds/0.8 kg.) of silver and gave it to Abimelech. With that silver he paid some worthless troublemakers to help him, and they went with Abimelech wherever he went.
5 He went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.
They went to Ophrah, his father’s town, and murdered 69 of his 70 brothers, the sons of his father Gideon. They killed all those men on one huge rock. But Gideon’s youngest son Jotham hid [from Abimelech and his men], and he escaped.
6 All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together with all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.
Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered under the big sacred tree in Shechem. There they appointed Abimelech to be their leader.
7 When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
When Jotham heard about that, he climbed up Gerizim Mountain. He stood at the top of the mountain and shouted to the people [down below], “You leaders of Shechem, listen to me, in order that God will listen to you!
8 The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over all of them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘You be our king!’
9 “But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honor God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
“But the olive tree said, ‘No! [I will not be your king] Men and gods enjoy the oil from my fruit. I will not [RHQ] stop producing [olives from which we make] that oil, in order to rule over you other trees!’
10 “The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’
“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’
11 “But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
“But the fig tree replied, ‘No! I do not want to [RHQ] stop producing my good sweet fruit, and rule over you other trees!’
12 “The trees said to the vine, ‘Come and reign over us.’
“Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘Come and be our king!’
13 “The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
“But the grapevine replied, ‘No! [I will not be your king] The new wine [that is made from my grapes] causes people and gods [who drink it] to become very happy. I do not want to stop producing grapes and rule over you other trees!’ [RHQ]
14 “Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come and reign over us.’
“Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king!’
15 “The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
“The thornbush replied, ‘If you truly want to appoint me to be your king, come into the shade of my [tiny branches]. But if you do not want to do that, I hope/desire that fire will come out from me and burn up all the huge cedar trees in Lebanon [country]!’”
16 “Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands
“[After] Jotham [finished telling them this parable, he] said, “So now [I ask you], were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king [RHQ]? And have you treated Gideon and his family [RHQ] fairly? Have you rewarded Gideon by honoring him as he deserved [because of all the good things he did for you]? No!
17 (for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian;
“[Do not forget that] my father fought a battle for you, and he was willing to die for you [if that had been necessary], to save you from the Midian people-group.
18 and you have risen up against my father’s house today and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother);
But now you have rebelled against my father’s family, and you have killed 69 of his sons on one huge rock. And you have appointed Abimelech—who is the son of my father’s slave girl, [not the son of his wife]—to be the king who will rule you people of Shechem. You have done that only because he is one of your relatives!
19 if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you;
So, if today you have truly acted fairly and sincerely toward Gideon and his family, I hope/desire that he will cause you to be happy and that you will cause him to be happy.
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.”
But if what you did was not right, I wish/desire that Abimelech will burn up all of you leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo with fire! And I also hope/desire that the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo will cause fire to burn up Abimelech!”
21 Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
[After] Jotham [finished saying that, he] escaped from them and ran away to Beer [town]. He stayed there because he was afraid that his brother Abimelech [would try to kill him].
22 Abimelech was prince over Israel three years.
Abimelech [became the leader of all the people of Israel. He] ruled them for three years.
23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
Then God sent an evil spirit [to cause trouble] between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, with the result that the leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech.
24 that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.
The leaders of Shechem had previously helped Abimelech to kill 69 of Gideon’s sons, who were his brothers. So now God sent the evil spirit to punish all of them.
25 The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them; and Abimelech was told about it.
The leaders of Shechem (set an ambush/sent men to hide) on the hilltops to ambush Abimelech. Those men robbed everyone who passed by. But someone told Abimelech about it, [so he did not go near them].
26 Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.
There was a man named Gaal, the son of Ebed, who moved into Shechem [city], along with his brothers. Soon the leaders of Shechem started to trust him.
27 They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
They went out [of the city] to their vineyards and picked some grapes. They pressed the grapes [to make juice, and then they made wine]. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, and they ate [a lot of food] and drank [a lot of wine]. Then they cursed Abimelech.
28 Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?
Gaal said, “(Why should [we allow] Abimelech to rule over us?/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us!) [RHQ] He is only one of Gideon’s sons [so he really does not belong to us] [RHQ]! And he appointed Zebul, the governor of our city, to be his deputy! We should (serve/be loyal to) [one of the descendants of] Hamor, [the founder of our city], and let him be our leader, not Abimelech [RHQ]!
29 I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”
If you would appoint me to be your leader, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready, [and then come to fight us]!’”
30 When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned.
When someone told Zebul what Gaal said, he was very angry.
31 He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they incite the city against you.
He secretly sent some messengers to Abimelech. They told him, “Gaal and his brothers have come here to Shechem, and they are causing [the people of] the city to rebel against you.
32 Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.
You and your men should get up during the night and go and hide in the fields outside the city.
33 It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion.”
As soon as the sun rises in the morning, get up and attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight against you, you can do to them whatever you want to.”
34 Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
So Abimelech and all the men who were with him got up during the night. They [divided into] four groups, [and] hid [in the fields] near Shechem.
35 Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush.
[The next morning], Gaal went out and stood at the entrance to the city gate. While he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places [and started walking toward the city].
36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” Zebul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.”
When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the hills!” But Zebul said, “You are seeing only the shadows [of trees] on the hills. They [are not people; they] only resemble people.”
37 Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.”
But Gaal [looked] again [and] said, “Look! There are people coming down from the top of the sacred mountain! There is a group of them coming down from where the tree is where people talk with the spirits of dead people!”
38 Then Zebul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.”
Zebul said to Gaal, “Now (what good is your bragging?/your bragging is worthless!) [MTY, RHQ] You said, ‘(Why should we serve Abimelech/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us)?’ You made fun of these men. So now go out and fight them!”
39 Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
So Gaal led the men of Shechem outside [the city] to fight Abimelech [and his men].
40 Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, even to the entrance of the gate.
Abimelech and his men pursued them, and they killed many of Gaal’s men before they could return [safely] inside the city gate.
41 Abimelech lived at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
Abimelech then stayed at Arumah, [about five miles away from Shechem], and Zebul’s men forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
42 On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.
The next day, the people of Shechem [got ready to leave the city and work] in their fields. When someone told Abimelech about that,
43 He took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them and struck them.
he divided his men into three groups, and told them to hide in the fields. So they did that. And when they saw the people coming out of the city, they jumped up and attacked them.
44 Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them.
Abimelech and the men who were with him ran to the city gate. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and attacked them.
45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with salt.
Abimelech and his men fought all day. They captured the city and killed all the people. They tore down all the buildings, and then they threw salt over the ruins [in order that nothing would grow there again].
46 When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith.
When the leaders who lived in the tower/fortress outside of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid inside the [fortress, which was also a] temple of [their god] El-Berith.
47 Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
But someone told Abimelech that all the leaders had gathered there.
48 Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!”
So he and all the men who were with him went up Zalmon Mountain [which is near Shechem]. Abimelech cut some branches of trees with an axe, and put them on his shoulders. Then he said to all the men who were with him, “Quickly, do what I have just done!”
49 All the people likewise each cut down his bough, followed Abimelech, and put them at the base of the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
So his men all cut branches [then carried them down the mountain], following Abimelech. They went to the fortress and piled the branches against its walls. Then they kindled a fire, and the fire burned down the fortress and killed all the people who were inside. So all the people who were inside the fortress—about 1,000 men and women—died.
50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebes [city]. They surrounded it and captured it.
51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower.
But there was a strong tower inside the city. So all the men, women, and leaders of the city ran to the tower. When they were all inside, they locked the door. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower.
52 Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
Abimelech and his men came to the tower and tried to get in the door, [but they could not]. Then Abimelech prepared to light a fire to burn down the door.
53 A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, and broke his skull.
But when Abimelech came near the doorway, a woman [who was on the roof] dropped a big grinding stone on his head, and crushed his skull.
54 Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, that men not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ His young man thrust him through, and he died.”
Abimelech quickly called to the young man who carried Abimelech’s weapons, and said, “Pull out your sword and kill me with it! I do not want people to say ‘It was a woman who killed Abimelech.’” So the young man thrust his sword into Abimelech, and Abimelech died.
55 When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place.
When the Israeli soldiers saw that Abimelech was dead, they all returned to their homes.
56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father in killing his seventy brothers;
In that way God punished Abimelech for the evil things that he had done to his father and especially for killing all 69 of his brothers.
57 and God repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came on them.
God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil things that they had done. And when those things happened, it fulfilled what Gideon’s son Jotham said when he cursed [Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem].
