Judges 8-9 (Amplified Bible)

Judges 8

 ¹AND THE men of Ephraim said to Gideon, Why have you treated us like this, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian? And they quarreled with him furiously.

    ²And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of [your big tribe of] Ephraim better than the vintage of [my little clan of] Abiezer?

    ^3[a]God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger toward him was abated when he had said that.

    ⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the 300 men with him, faint yet pursuing.

    ⁵And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

    ⁶And the princes of Succoth said, Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?

    ⁷And Gideon said, For that, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!

    ⁸And he went from there up to Penuel and made the same request, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had done.

    ⁹And [Gideon] said to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

    ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army--about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword.

    ¹¹And Gideon went up by the route of those who dwelt in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah and smote their camp [unexpectedly], for the army thought itself secure.

    ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified all the army.

    ¹³Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

    ¹⁴And he caught a young man of Succoth and inquired of him, and [the youth] wrote down for him [the names of] the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

    ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you scoffed at me, saying, Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?

    ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth [a lesson].

    ¹⁷And he broke down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.

    ¹⁸Then [Gideon] said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What kind of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they replied, They were like you, each of them resembled the son of a king.

    ¹⁹And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

    ²⁰And [Gideon] said to Jether his firstborn [to embarrass them], Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared because he was yet a lad.

    ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna and took the [crescent-shaped] ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

    ²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us--you and your son and your son's son also--for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

    ²³And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.

    ²⁴And Gideon said to them, Let me make a request of you--every man of you give me the earrings of his spoil. For [the Midianites] had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites [general term for all descendants of Keturah].

    ²⁵And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and every man cast on it the earrings of his spoil.

    ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescents and pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains that were about their camels' necks.

    ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod [a sacred, high priest's garment] of it, and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel paid homage to it there, and ^[b]it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.

    ²⁸Thus was Midian subdued before the Israelites so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had peace and rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.

    ²⁹Jerubbaal (Gideon) son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

    ³⁰Now Gideon had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives.

    ³¹And his concubine, who was in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech.

    ³²Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

    ³³As soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned again and played the harlot after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

    ³⁴And the Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, Who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;

    ³⁵Neither did they show kindness to the family of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in return for all the good which he had done for Israel.

   

Judges 9

 ¹NOW ABIMELECH son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) went to Shechem to his mother's kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,

    ²Say, I pray you, in the hearing of all the men of Shechem, Which is better for you: that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one man rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

    ³And his mother's kinsmen spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

    ⁴And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and foolhardy men who followed him.

    ⁵And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left, for he hid himself.

    ⁶And all the men of Shechem gathered together and all of Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak (terebinth) of the pillar at Shechem.

    ⁷When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, Hear me, men of Shechem, that God may hear you.

    ⁸One time the trees went forth 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 leave my fatness, by which God and man are honored, and go to wave 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 leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go to wave over the trees?

    ¹²Then the trees said to the vine (grapevine), You come and reign over us.

    ¹³And the vine (grapevine) replied, Should I leave my new wine, which rejoices God and man, and go to wave over the trees?

    ¹⁴Then all the trees said to the bramble, You come and reign over us.

    ¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees, If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

    ¹⁶Now therefore, if you acted sincerely and honorably when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved--

    ¹⁷For my father fought for you, jeopardized his life, and rescued you from the hand of Midian;

    ¹⁸And you have risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons, seventy men, on one stone and have made Abimelech, son of his maidservant, king over the people of Shechem because he is your kinsman--

    ¹⁹If you then have acted sincerely and honorably with Jerubbaal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you;

    ²⁰But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the people of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come out from the people of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.

    ²¹And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother.

    ²²Abimelech reigned three years over Israel.

    ²³And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

    ²⁴That the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.

    ²⁵And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against [Abimelech] on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told to Abimelech.

    ²⁶And Gaal son of Ebed came with his kinsmen and moved into Shechem, and the men of Shechem put confidence in him.

    ²⁷And they went out into the field, gathered their vineyard fruits and trod them, and held a festival; and going into the house of their god, they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

    ²⁸Gaal son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Were not the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul, his officer, servants of the men of Hamor the father and founder of Shechem? Then why should we serve him?

    ²⁹Would that this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech and say to him, Increase your army and come out.

    ³⁰When Zebul the city's mayor heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

    ³¹And he sent messengers to Abimelech slyly, saying, Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem; and behold, they stir up the city to rise against you.

    ³²Now therefore, rise up by night, you and the men with you, and lie in wait in the field.

    ³³Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and set upon the city; and when Gaal and the men with him come out against you, do to them as opportunity permits.

    ³⁴And Abimelech rose up by night, and all the men with him, and they laid in wait against Shechem in four companies.

    ³⁵And Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood in the entrance of the city's gate. Then Abimelech and the men with him rose up from ambush.

    ³⁶When Gaal saw the men, he said to Zebul, Look, men are coming down from the mountaintops! Zebul said to him, The shadow of the mountains looks to you like men.

    ³⁷And Gaal spoke again and said, See, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the oak of Meonenim [the sorcerers].

    ³⁸Then said Zebul to Gaal, Where is your [big] mouth now, you who said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the men whom you have despised? Go out now and fight with them.

    ³⁹And Gaal went out ahead of the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.

    ⁴⁰And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded--even to the entrance of the gate.

    ⁴¹And Abimelech lodged at Arumah, and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his kinsmen so that they could not live in Shechem.

    ⁴²The next day the men went out into the fields, and Abimelech was told.

    ⁴³He took his men and divided them into three companies and laid in wait in the field; and he looked and behold, the people were coming out of the city. And he rose up against them and smote them.

    ⁴⁴And Abimelech and the company with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the city's gate, while the two other companies rushed upon all who were in the field and slew them.

    ⁴⁵And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and slew the people who were in it. He demolished the city and ^[c]sowed it with salt.

    ⁴⁶And when all the men of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith [the god of Berith].

    ⁴⁷Abimelech was told that all the people of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.

    ⁴⁸And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the men with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brush, picked it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men with him, What you have seen me do, make haste to do also.

    ⁴⁹So each of the men cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold and set [the stronghold] on fire over the people in it, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.

    ⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and took it.

    ⁵¹But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the people of the city--men and women--fled to it, shut themselves in, and went to the roof of the tower.

    ⁵²And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

    ⁵³But a certain woman cast an upper millstone [down] upon Abimelech's head and broke his skull.

    ⁵⁴Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and slay me, so that men may not say of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

    ⁵⁵And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed each man to his home.

    ⁵⁶Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech which he had done to his father [Gideon] by slaying his seventy brothers;

    ⁵⁷And all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God repaid upon their heads and caused to come upon them the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal.^(A)