¹Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and he spoke to them and to the whole family of his mother's father's house, and he said, ²“Please speak in the audience of all the lords of Shechem, and say, ‘What is better for you: seventy men to rule over you – all of Jerubbaal's sons – or for one man to rule over you? And remember that I am your bone and your flesh.’ ” ³So his mother's brothers spoke concerning him all these words in the audience of all the lords of Shechem, and their heart inclined towards Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired some idle and reckless men, and they followed him. ⁵And he went to his father's house, to Ophrah, and he killed his brothers – the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men – on one stone, but Jotham, Jerubbaal's youngest son, was left remaining, because he hid himself. ⁶And all the lords of Shechem, and the whole house of Millo gathered together, and they departed and made Abimelech king by the oak which had been set up in Shechem. ⁷And it was reported to Jotham, and he departed and stood on the summit of Mount Gerizim, and he raised his voice and called out and said to them, “Listen to me, you lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. ⁸The trees went purposefully to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my fatness, by which through me they honour God and men, and should I go to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my sweetness and my good produce, and should I go to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹²Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³But the vine said to them, ‘Should I give up my new wine which cheers up God and men, and should I go to hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴Then all the trees said to the blackthorn, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵And the blackthorn said to the trees, ‘If you truly anoint me as king over you, come and put your trust in my shadow; and if you do not, let fire come out of the blackthorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ ¹⁶So now, if you acted truthfully and with integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you acted correctly with Jerubbaal and with his house, and if you dealt with him according to his just deserts, ¹⁷in that my father fought for you, and he put his life in jeopardy and saved you from Midian's grip ¹⁸(and you have risen up against the house of my father today, and you have killed his sons – seventy men – on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, his maid's son, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother), ¹⁹so if you have dealt truthfully and with integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and the house of Millo, and let fire come from the lords of Shechem and the house of Millo and consume Abimelech.” ²¹Then Jotham fled and bolted, and he went to Beer, and he lived there because of Abimelech his brother. ²²And Abimelech was prince over Israel for three years. ²³Then God sent an untoward spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem, and the lords of Shechem acted treacherously against Abimelech, ²⁴so that the violence against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal should come to a head, and to lay their blood on Abimelech their brother, because he killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, because they abetted him in killing his brothers. ²⁵And the lords of Shechem set up men in ambush against him on the summits of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who came across them on the road, and it was reported to Abimelech. ²⁶Then Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers came and crossed over to Shechem, and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷And they went out into the fields and harvested their vineyards and trod the grapes, and they held thanksgiving celebrations, and they went to the house of their god, and they ate and drank, and they cursed Abimelech. ²⁸And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. So why should we serve this one? ²⁹And if only this people was in my power! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!” ³⁰And when Zebul the chief officer of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. ³¹And he sent messengers to Abimelech clandestinely and said, “Look, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem, and what they are doing is stirring up the city against you. ³²So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the countryside. ³³So what you should do is, in the morning, when the sun rises, get up early and invade the city, and when he and the people with him come out against you, do to him whatever is fitting.” ³⁴So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose at night and lay in ambush against Shechem, in four contingents. ³⁵Then when Gaal the son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, Abimelech and the people with him arose from the ambush. ³⁶And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, a people is coming down from the summits of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are mistaking the shadow of the mountain for men.” ³⁷Then Gaal spoke yet again and said, “Look, a people is coming down from the height of the land, and one contingent is coming by the way of the oak of Meonenim.” ³⁸Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, with which you might say, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’? Is this not the people whom you rejected? Come on out now and fight them!” ³⁹Then Gaal came out in the presence of the lords of Shechem, and he fought against Abimelech. ⁴⁰And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹And Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, stopping them from living in Shechem. ⁴²And it came to pass on the next day when the people went out into the fields that it was reported to Abimelech. ⁴³And he took his people and divided them into three contingents, and he lay in ambush in the fields, and he looked, and what he saw was the people coming out of the city. And he rose up against them and struck them. ⁴⁴And Abimelech and the contingents which were with him made an onslaught, and they took up position at the entrance of the gate of the city, and two contingents made an onslaught against everyone in the fields and struck them down. ⁴⁵And Abimelech fought in the city all that day, and he took the city, and he killed the people who were in it, and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. ⁴⁶Then when all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard it, they went to the watchtower of the house of El-Berith. ⁴⁷And it was reported to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem had gathered together. ⁴⁸Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon – he and all the people who were with him – and Abimelech took axes in his hand and cut off a bough from one of the trees, and he lifted it up and put it on his shoulder, and he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry up and do the same as me.” ⁴⁹So all the people also each cut off a bough, and they followed Abimelech, and they put them against the watchtower, and with them they set fire to the watchtower, and all the men of the tower of Shechem also died – about a thousand men and women. ⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped at Thebez, and he captured it. ⁵¹Now there was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men and women and all the lords of the city fled there, and they closed it behind them, and they went up onto the roof of the tower. ⁵²And Abimelech went to the tower, and he attacked it, and he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire. ⁵³And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, and it crushed his skull. ⁵⁴And he quickly called the servant-lad carrying his equipment, and he said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they do not say about me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his servant thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each man went to his place. ⁵⁶So God requited Abimelech's wickedness which he committed against his father, in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷And God requited all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their head, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.