¹⁸ And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at ^(A)Tabor?”

So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹ Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹ So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and ^(B)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ^(C)“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have ^(D)delivered 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; ^(E)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to ^[a]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, ^(F)because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵ So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶ Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Then Gideon ^(G)made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, ^(H)Ophrah. And all Israel ^(I)played the harlot with it there. It became ^(J)a snare to Gideon and to his house.

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. ^(K)And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹ Then ^(L)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰ Gideon had ^(M)seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. ^31 (N)And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. ³² Now Gideon the son of Joash died ^(O)at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(P)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ So it was, ^(Q)as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again ^(R)played the harlot with the Baals, ^(S)and made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴ Thus the children of Israel ^(T)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (U)nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

9 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to ^(A)his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(B)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and ^(C)bone.”

³ And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our ^(D)brother.” ⁴ So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of ^(E)Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired ^(F)worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house ^(G)at Ophrah and ^(H)killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. ⁶ And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

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

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 ^(Q)as^[a] he deserves— ¹⁷ for my ^(R)father fought for you, risked his life, and ^(S)delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ^18 (T)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 ^(U)female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— ¹⁹ if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(V)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(W)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!” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to ^(X)Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Downfall of Abimelech

²² After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, ^23 (Y)God sent a ^(Z)spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem ^(AA)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (AB)that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their ^(AC)blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. ²⁵ And the men of Shechem set ^[b]men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.

²⁶ Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. ²⁷ So they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and ^[c]made merry. And they went into ^(AD)the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, ^(AE)“Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of ^(AF)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 (AG)If only this people were under my ^[d]authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” So ^[e]he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you. ³² Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and ^[f]lie in wait in the field.

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(A)Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, ^(B)“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For ^(C)the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ^(D)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He ^(E)hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For ^(F)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? ^(G)Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Does not the ^(H)potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make ^(I)one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering ^(J)the vessels of wrath ^(K)prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known ^(L)the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had ^(M)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom He ^(N)called, ^(O)not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵ As He says also in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ And as Isaiah said before:

Present Condition of Israel

³⁰ What shall we say then? ^(W)That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, ^(X)even the righteousness of faith; ³¹ but Israel, ^(Y)pursuing the law of righteousness, ^(Z)has not attained to the law ^[c]of righteousness. ³² Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, ^[d]by the works of the law. For ^(AA)they stumbled at that stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written: