Judges 9:7-21
1599 Geneva Bible
7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
8 [a]The trees went forth to anoint a King over them, and said unto the Olive tree, Reign thou over us.
9 But the Olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to advance me above the trees?
10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and be king over us.
11 But the fig tree answered them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to advance me above the trees?
12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and be king over us.
13 But the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, whereby I cheer God and man, and go to advance me above the trees?
14 Then said all the trees unto the [b]bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If ye will indeed anoint me king over you, come, and put your trust under my shadow: and if not, the [c]fire shall come out of the bramble, and consume the Cedars of Lebanon.
16 Now therefore, if ye do truly and incorruptly to make Abimelech King, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and with his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands,
17 (For my father fought for you, and [d]adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hands of Midian.
18 And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his children, about seventy persons upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother.)
19 If ye then have dealt truly and purely with Jerubbaal, and with his house this day, then [e]rejoice ye with Abimelech, and let him rejoice with you.
20 But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech, and consume the men of Shechem and the house of Millo: also let a fire come forth from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and consume Abimelech.
21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 9:8 By this parable he declareth that those that are not ambitious, are most worthy of honor, and that the ambitious abuse their honor both to their own destruction and others.
- Judges 9:14 Or, thistle, or brier.
- Judges 9:15 Abimelech shall destroy the nobles of Shechem.
- Judges 9:17 Hebrew, he cast his life far from him.
- Judges 9:19 That he is your king, and you his subjects.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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