^33 (A)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^(B)whored after the Baals and made ^(C)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel ^(D)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ^35 (E)and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(F)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(G)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(H)I am ^(I)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(J)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(K)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(L)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(M)Ophrah ^(N)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(O)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(P)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (Q)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(R)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(S)cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(T)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(U)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(V)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(W)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(X)as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father's house this day ^(Y)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made ^(Z)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, ^(AA)because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(AB)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(AC)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(AD)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.