Judges 9:7-21

New King James Version

The Parable of the Trees

⁷Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(A)Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:

“Listen to me, you men of Shechem,
That God may listen to you!

⁸“The^(B) trees once went forth to anoint a king over them.
And they said to the olive tree,
^(C)‘Reign over us!’
⁹But the olive tree said to them,
‘Should I cease giving my oil,
^(D)With which they honor God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹⁰“Then the trees said to the fig tree,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹¹But the fig tree said to them,
‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹²“Then the trees said to the vine,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹³But the vine said to them,
‘Should I cease my new wine,
^(E)Which cheers both God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹⁴“Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees,
‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you,
Then come and take shelter in my ^(F)shade;
But if not, ^(G)let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the ^(H)cedars of Lebanon!’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him ^(I)as^[a] he deserves— ¹⁷for my ^(J)father fought for you, risked his life, and ^(K)delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ¹⁸^(L)but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his ^(M)female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— ¹⁹if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(N)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, ^(O)let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” ²¹And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to ^(P)Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.