Judges 9:42-57

Living Bible

⁴² The next day the men of Shechem went out to battle again. However, someone had told Abimelech about their plans, ⁴³ so he had divided his men into three groups hiding in the fields. And when the men of the city went out to attack, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and began killing them. ⁴⁴ Abimelech stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while his other two groups cut them down in the fields. ⁴⁵ The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city, killed its people, and leveled it to the ground. ⁴⁶ The people at the nearby town of Migdal saw what was happening and took refuge in the fort next to the temple of Baal-berith.

^47-48 When Abimelech learned of this, he led his forces to Mount Zalmon where he began chopping a bundle of firewood, and placed it upon his shoulder. “Do as I have done,” he told his men. ⁴⁹ So each of them quickly cut a bundle and carried it back to the town where, following Abimelech’s example, the bundles were piled against the walls of the fort and set on fire. So all the people inside died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Abimelech next attacked the city of Thebez, and captured it. ⁵¹ However, there was a fort inside the city and the entire population fled into it, barricaded the gates, and climbed to the top of the roof to watch. ⁵² But as Abimelech was preparing to burn it, ⁵³ a woman on the roof threw down a millstone. It landed on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.

⁵⁴ “Kill me!” he groaned to his youthful armor bearer. “Never let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!”

So the young man pierced him with his sword, and he died. ⁵⁵ When his men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes. ^56-57 Thus God punished both Abimelech and the men of Shechem for their sin of murdering Gideon’s seventy sons. So the curse of Jotham, Gideon’s son, came true.