Shechem and Abimelech Fall

²² Now Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. ^23 (A)Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem ^(B)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (C)so that the violence ^[a]done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and ^(D)their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. ²⁵ The men of Shechem set ^[b]men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road; and it was told to Abimelech.

²⁶ Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his ^[c]relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷ They went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them, and held a ^[d]festival; and they went into the house of ^(E)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 ^[e]lieutenant? Serve the men of ^(F)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 [f](G)Would, therefore, that this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And 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 burned. ³¹ He sent messengers to Abimelech ^[g]deceitfully, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his ^[h]relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are ^[i]stirring up the city against you. ³² Now therefore, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³ In the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall ^(H)do to them ^[j]whatever you can.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four ^[k]companies. ³⁵ Now 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 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “^[l]Look, 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 Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down from ^(I)the ^[m]highest part of the land, and one ^[n]company comes by the way of ^[o]the diviners’ ^[p]oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your ^[q]boasting now with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his ^[r]relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.

⁴² Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was told to Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took ^[s]his people and divided them into three ^[t]companies, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and ^[u]saw the people coming out from the city, he arose against them and ^[v]slew them. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the ^[w]company who was with him dashed forward and stood in the entrance of the city gate; the other two ^[x]companies then dashed against all who were in the field and ^[y]slew them. ⁴⁵ Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he ^(J)razed the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the inner chamber of the ^[z]temple of ^(K)El-berith. ⁴⁷ It was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ So Abimelech went up to Mount ^(L)Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took ^[aa]an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do ^[ab]likewise.” ⁴⁹ All the people also cut down each one his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But ^(M)a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. ⁵⁴ Then ^(N)he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman slew him.’” So ^[ac]the young man pierced him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his ^[ad]home. ⁵⁶ Thus ^(O)God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came ^[ae]upon them.

Oppression of Philistines and Ammonites

10 Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, ^(A)arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

³ After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities ^[a]in the land of Gilead ^(B)that are called ^[b]Havvoth-jair to this day. ⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

⁶ Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, ^(D)the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus ^(E)they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. ⁷ The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He ^(F)sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ They ^[c]afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel ^[d]that year; for eighteen years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan ^[e]in Gilead in the land of the Amorites. ⁹ The sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

¹⁰ Then the ^(G)sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” ¹¹ The Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you ^(H)from the Egyptians, ^(I)the Amorites, ^(J)the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? ¹² Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites ^(K)oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. ¹³ Yet ^(L)you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. ^14 (M)Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵ The sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned, ^(N)do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” ^16 (O)So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and ^[f](P)He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

¹⁷ Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in ^(Q)Mizpah. ¹⁸ The people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah the Ninth Judge

11 Now ^(A)Jephthah the Gileadite was a ^[a]valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead ^[b]was the father of Jephthah. ² Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^(B)Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves ^[c]about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

⁴ It came about after a while that ^(C)the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. ⁵ When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” ⁷ Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “^(D)Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?” ⁸ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and ^(E)become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up ^[d]to me, will I become your head?” ¹⁰ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “^(F)The Lord is ^[e]witness between us; surely we will do ^[f]as you have said.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at ^(G)Mizpah.

¹² Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³ The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel ^(H)took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the ^(I)Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.” ¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel ^(J)went through the wilderness to the ^[g]Red Sea and ^(K)came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel ^(L)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. ^(M)And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸ Then they went through the wilderness and ^(N)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they ^(O)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And Israel sent ^(P)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^[h](Q)defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ^22 (R)So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. ²³ Since now the Lord, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it? ²⁴ Do you not possess what ^(S)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. ²⁵ Now are you any better than ^(T)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ^26 (U)While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷ I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; ^(V)may the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” ²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon ^[i]disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.