Judges 8:18-9:21

New American Standard Bible

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where were the men whom you killed at Tabor?” But they said, “You and they were alike, each one ^[a]resembling the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and attack us; for as the man, so is his strength.” ^(A)So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and ^(B)took the crescent amulets which were on their camels’ necks.

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, your son’s son as well, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian!” ²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(C)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ^[b]request of you, that each of you give me ^[c]an earring from his plunder.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were ^(D)Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they said, “We will certainly give them to you.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them tossed an earring there from his plunder. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, apart from the crescent amulets, the ear pendants, and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the neck chains that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made it into ^(E)an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel ^[d]committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Forty Years of Peace

²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹ Then ^(F)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had ^(G)seventy sons who ^[e]were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ^[f]named him Abimelech. ³² And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^(H)that the sons of Israel again ^[g]committed infidelity with the Baals, and made ^(I)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ So the sons of Israel ^(J)did not remember the Lord their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (K)nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accordance with all the good that he had done for Israel.

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

9 Now ^(L)Abimelech the son of ^[h]Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s relatives, and spoke to them and to the entire family of the household of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Speak, now, in the hearing of all the ^[i]leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: for ^(M)seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, to rule over you, or for one man to rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am ^(N)your bone and your flesh.” ³ So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the ^[j]leaders of Shechem; and ^[k]they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is ^(O)our relative.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of ^(P)Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house in Ophrah and ^(Q)killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, ^(R)seventy men, ^[l]on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. ⁶ All the ^[m]leaders of Shechem and all ^[n]Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the ^[o]oak of the memorial stone which was in Shechem.

⁷ Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of ^(S)Mount Gerizim, and raised his voice and called out. And he said to them, “Listen to me, you ^[p]leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ Once the trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my fatness with ^[q]which God and mankind are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come, reign over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my sweetness and my good ^[r]fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹² Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You, come, reign over us!’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I give up my new wine, which cheers God and mankind, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You, come, reign over us!’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you ^[s]really are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now then, if you have acted with ^[t]honesty and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(T)Jerubbaal and his house, and ^[u]have dealt with him ^[v]as he deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you, and ^[w]risked his life and saved you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ but in fact you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed ^(U)his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, ^(V)the son of his female slave, king over the ^[x]leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative— ¹⁹ so if you have acted with ^[y]honesty and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, be joyful about Abimelech, and may he also be joyful about you. ²⁰ But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume the ^[z]leaders of Shechem and ^[aa]Beth-millo; and may fire come out of the ^[ab]leaders of Shechem and from ^[ac]Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.” ²¹ Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer; and he stayed there because of his brother Abimelech.