Judges 9:22-11:28

International Standard Version

The Destruction of Shechem

²² Abimelech dominated Israel for three years. ²³ Then God sent an evil spirit to divide Abimelech and the “lords” of Shechem ²⁴ so that the violence committed against the 70 sons of Jerubbaal might come back on their brother Abimelech, who murdered them, and so it might come back on the “lords” of Shechem, who provoked him to murder his brothers. ²⁵ The “lords” of Shechem sent out men to ambush him on the mountain tops, and they robbed everyone who came by them along the roads, and this was reported to Abimelech.

²⁶ Meanwhile, Ebed’s son Gaal arrived with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem. The “lords” of Shechem put their faith in him. ²⁷ They went out into the fields, harvested their vineyards, made some wine, and threw a party. Then they went into the temple of their god, ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ Then Ebed’s son Gaal remarked, “Who is this Abimelech? And who is Shechem? Should we serve him? Isn’t he Jerubbaal’s son? Isn’t Zebul his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s ancestor—but why are we serving him? ²⁹ If only authority over this people were given to me. Then I would remove Abimelech!” Then he challenged Abimelech: “Build up your army and then come out and fight!”

³⁰ When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard what Ebed’s son Gaal had said, he flew into a rage. ³¹ He sent messengers to Abimelech in secret^[a] and told him, “Look out! Ebed’s son Gaal and his family have arrived here in Shechem. Watch out! They’re stirring up the city against you. ³² So get up at night, take your soldiers with you, and wait in ambush out in the field. ³³ Tomorrow morning when the sun is up, get up early and attack the city. When Gaal^[b] and his army come out to fight you, do whatever you can to them.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and his entire army got up that night and waited in ambush against Shechem in four separate companies.

³⁵ Ebed’s son Gaal went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate while Abimelech and his army were creeping out of their ambush. ³⁶ When Gaal saw the army, he observed to Zebul, “Look there! People are coming down from the top of the mountains.”

But Zebul replied to him, “You’re looking at morning shadows cast by the mountains. They just look^[c] like men to you.”

³⁷ Gaal spoke up again to say, “Look! People are coming down from the highest part of the land, and there’s a company approaching from the diviner’s oak tree.”^[d]

³⁸ So Zebul replied, “Right... So where’s your boasting now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech? Should we serve him?’ Isn’t this the army that you insulted? So go out right now and fight them!”

³⁹ So Gaal went out in full view of the “lords” of Shechem and fought Abimelech. ⁴⁰ Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ran away from him. Many fell wounded right up to the entrance to the city gate. ⁴¹ Afterwards, Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul expelled Gaal and his family so they couldn’t remain in Shechem.

⁴² The next day, the people went out to the field, and Abimelech learned about it. ⁴³ So he took his army, divided it into three separate companies, and laid in ambush out in the field. When Abimelech^[e] noticed the people coming out from the city, his^[f] army attacked them and killed them. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the soldiers who were with him rushed forward and commandeered the entrance to the city gate while the other two companies ran out to kill everyone who was in the field. ⁴⁵ Abimelech fought against the city all that day, captured the city, killed the people in it, then tore the city to the ground and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ When all the “lords” at the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they retreated into the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith. ⁴⁷ Abimilech was told that all of the “lords” of the Shechem Tower had assembled there. ⁴⁸ So he^[g] went up to Mount Zalmon, accompanied by his entire army. Abimelech had an axe in his hand, so he cut down a branch from a tree, lifted it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he told the army that had accompanied^[h] him, “You’ve seen what I just did. Hurry up! Do the same thing!”

⁴⁹ Then his entire army also cut down a branch for each soldier, followed Abimelech to the inner chamber, and set fire to it^[i] while they were inside. As a result, all the men of the tower of Shechem died, including about a thousand men and women.

The Death of Abimelech

⁵⁰ Later on, Abimelech went to Thebez, set up a siege encampment there, and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a fortified tower in the center of the city, and all the men, women, and leaders of the city escaped to it, shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech approached the tower, attacked it, and approached the tower’s gate, intending^[j] to burn it down. ⁵³ But a certain woman threw an upper millstone down on Abimelech’s head, fracturing his skull.

⁵⁴ So he cried out to his young armor bearer and ordered him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so no one will say about me that ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man pierced him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ When the men of Israel noticed that Abimelech was dead, they each left for home.^{[k] 56} That’s how God repaid Abimelech for the evil thing he did to his father by killing his 70 brothers. ⁵⁷ God also repaid^[l] the men of Shechem for their wickedness, and the curse of Jerubbaal’s son Jotham came true for them.

Tola, Israel’s Sixth Judge

10 A man from the tribe of Issachar, Puah’s son Tola, grandson of Dodo, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the mountainous region^[m] of Ephraim. ² He governed Israel for 23 years and then died. He was buried in Shamir.

Jair, Israel’s Seventh Judge

³ After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and governed Israel for 22 years. ⁴ His 30 sons rode on 30 donkeys, controlling 30 cities in the territory of Gilead named Havvoth-jair^[n] to this day. ⁵ Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Israel Descends into Apostasy

⁶ Later on, the Israelis again practiced what the Lord considered to be evil by serving the Baals, the stars, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the descendants of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. In doing so, they ignored^[o] the Lord and wouldn’t serve him. ⁷ In his burning anger against Israel, he sold them into domination by the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who trampled and troubled the Israelis during that year—eighteen years for the Israelis who lived east of the Jordan River in Gilead, the land occupied by^[p] the Amorites. ⁹ The Ammonites crossed the Jordan River to fight against the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. As a result, Israel was deeply distressed. ¹⁰ Then the Israelis cried out to the Lord and told him,^[q] “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned our God to serve the Baals.”

¹¹ The Lord replied to the Israelis, “Aren’t you away from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? ¹² And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites harassed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from under their domination. ¹³ But you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer be delivering you. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble.”

¹⁵ The Israelis replied to the Lord, “We have sinned, so do to us anything that’s right to do in your opinion, just please deliver us right now.” ¹⁶ When they put away their foreign gods and served the Lord, he brought Israel’s misery to an end. ¹⁷ The Ammonites were summoned and they encamped in Gilead. The Israelis assembled together and encamped in Mizpah. ¹⁸ The people and Gilead’s officials inquired among themselves, “Who will begin our attack against the Ammonites? He’ll become head over everyone who lives in Gilead.”

Jephthah, Israel’s Eighth Judge

11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute and Jephthah’s father Gilead. ² Gilead’s wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife’s sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, “You won’t have an inheritance in this^[r] house, since you’re the son of a different woman.” ³ So Jephthah escaped from his brothers and lived in the territory of Tob, where worthless men gathered themselves around him and went out on raiding parties with him.

⁴ Later on, the Ammonites attacked Israel. ⁵ When this happened,^[s] the elders of Gilead went to the territory of Tob to find Jephthah. ⁶ They told him, “Come and be our commander so we can fight the Ammonites!”

⁷ But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Weren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father’s house? And you come to me now that you’re in trouble?”

⁸ So the elders of Gilead told Jephthah, “Well, we’re coming back to you now so you can accompany us, fight the Ammonites, and become the head of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹ Then Jephthah asked the elders of Gilead, “If you all send me to fight against the Ammonites and the Lord hands them over right in front of me, will I really become your head?”

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead responded to Jephthah, “May the Lord serve^[t] as a witness that we’re making this agreement between ourselves to do as we’ve said.” ¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath^[u] in the Lord’s presence at Mizpah.

Jephthah’s Dialogue with the Ammonites

¹² Afterwards, Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, “What’s your dispute between us that prompted you to come and attack my land?”

¹³ The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “We’re here^[v] because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will.”^[w]

¹⁴ But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites ¹⁵ and they informed him, “This is Jephthah’s response:

²⁸ But the king of the Ammonites wouldn’t heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.