Judges 9:26-41

Revised Standard Version

²⁶ And Ga′al the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his kinsmen; and the men of Shechem put confidence in him. ²⁷ And they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and reviled Abim′elech. ²⁸ And Ga′al the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abim′elech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba′al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him? ²⁹ Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abim′elech. I would say^[a] to Abim′elech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”

³⁰ When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga′al the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abim′elech at Aru′mah,^[b] saying, “Behold, Ga′al the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up^[c] the city against you. ³² Now therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields. ³³ Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers.”

³⁴ And Abim′elech and all the men that were with him rose up by night, and laid wait against Shechem in four companies. ³⁵ And Ga′al the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abim′elech and the men that were with him rose from the ambush. ³⁶ And when Ga′al saw the men, he said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the mountain tops!” And Zebul said to him, “You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷ Ga′al spoke again and said, “Look, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abim′elech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the men whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” ³⁹ And Ga′al went out at the head of the men of Shechem, and fought with Abim′elech. ⁴⁰ And Abim′elech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ And Abim′elech dwelt at Aru′mah; and Zebul drove out Ga′al and his kinsmen, so that they could not live on at Shechem.