Judges 9:26-41

Evangelical Heritage Version

²⁶ At this time Ga’al son of Ebed and his brothers had come to Shechem and settled there, and the citizens of Shechem put their trust in him.

²⁷ The people of Shechem went out into the fields and gathered grapes from their vineyards. They trod the grapes into wine and held a thanksgiving festival. They went to the house of their god and ate and drank, and they cursed Abimelek.

²⁸ Ga’al son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelek? Why should the city of Shechem serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his representative? Serve the descendants of Hamor, the founding father of Shechem, but why should we serve Abimelek? ²⁹ If only someone would give this people into my hand! I would remove Abimelek!”

So he said to Abimelek, “Get a bigger army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul, ruler of the city, heard the words of Ga’al son of Ebed, he was hot with anger. ³¹ He secretly sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, “Look, Ga’al son of Ebed and his brothers have been coming to Shechem, and now they are stirring up the city against you. ³² So now, get up tonight, you and the troops who are with you, and hide yourselves in the countryside. ³³ When morning comes, at sunrise, get up early and make an attack on the city. Then when Ga’al and the people with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can.”

³⁴ So Abimelek and all the troops who were with him set out in the middle of the night and set an ambush for Shechem, in four units.

³⁵ Ga’al son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city gate. Then Abimelek and the troops with him rose up from their hiding places.

³⁶ When Ga’al saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look! People are coming down from the mountains.”

But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing shadows on the mountains and mistaking them for men.”

³⁷ But Ga’al spoke up again. He said, “No, look! There are people coming down from the navel of the land,^[a] and one unit is coming from the direction of the Oak of the Fortune Tellers.”

³⁸ Zebul said to him, “Where is your big mouth now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelek that we should serve him?’ Aren’t these the people you despised? Go out now, and fight against him!”

³⁹ So Ga’al went out in front of the citizens of Shechem and fought against Abimelek. ⁴⁰ Abimelek pursued him, and Ga’al fled from him. Many fell wounded all the way up to the entrance to the city’s gatehouse. ⁴¹ Abimelek remained in Arumah, but Zebul drove out Ga’al and his brothers, so that they could not stay in Shechem.