²⁶ Then Gaal the son of Ebed came with his ^[a]relatives, and they crossed over into Shechem; and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷ And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them and celebrated a ^[b]festival; and they came into the house of ^(A)their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his ^[c]officer? Serve the men of ^(B)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 [d](C)Would, therefore, that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out.”

³⁰ Then Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger burned. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech ^[e]deceitfully, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his ^[f]relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are ^[g]stirring up the city against you. ³² So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³ And it will be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and behold, he and the people who are with him will come out against you, and you shall ^(D)do to them ^[h]whatever your hand finds pleasing.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four ^[i]companies. ³⁵ And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. ³⁶ Then Gaal saw the people and said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷ Yet Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down from ^(E)the ^[j]highest part of the land, and one ^[k]company comes by the way of ^[l]the soothsayers’ ^[m]oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your ^[n]boasting now with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight with them!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him; and many fell slain up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his ^[o]relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.