²⁶ Meanwhile, Ebed’s son Gaal arrived with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem. The “lords” of Shechem put their faith in him. ²⁷ They went out into the fields, harvested their vineyards, made some wine, and threw a party. Then they went into the temple of their god, ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ Then Ebed’s son Gaal remarked, “Who is this Abimelech? And who is Shechem? Should we serve him? Isn’t he Jerubbaal’s son? Isn’t Zebul his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s ancestor—but why are we serving him? ²⁹ If only authority over this people were given to me. Then I would remove Abimelech!” Then he challenged Abimelech: “Build up your army and then come out and fight!”

³⁰ When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard what Ebed’s son Gaal had said, he flew into a rage. ³¹ He sent messengers to Abimelech in secret^[a] and told him, “Look out! Ebed’s son Gaal and his family have arrived here in Shechem. Watch out! They’re stirring up the city against you. ³² So get up at night, take your soldiers with you, and wait in ambush out in the field. ³³ Tomorrow morning when the sun is up, get up early and attack the city. When Gaal^[b] and his army come out to fight you, do whatever you can to them.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and his entire army got up that night and waited in ambush against Shechem in four separate companies.

³⁵ Ebed’s son Gaal went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate while Abimelech and his army were creeping out of their ambush. ³⁶ When Gaal saw the army, he observed to Zebul, “Look there! People are coming down from the top of the mountains.”

But Zebul replied to him, “You’re looking at morning shadows cast by the mountains. They just look^[c] like men to you.”

³⁷ Gaal spoke up again to say, “Look! People are coming down from the highest part of the land, and there’s a company approaching from the diviner’s oak tree.”^[d]

³⁸ So Zebul replied, “Right... So where’s your boasting now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech? Should we serve him?’ Isn’t this the army that you insulted? So go out right now and fight them!”

³⁹ So Gaal went out in full view of the “lords” of Shechem and fought Abimelech. ⁴⁰ Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ran away from him. Many fell wounded right up to the entrance to the city gate. ⁴¹ Afterwards, Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul expelled Gaal and his family so they couldn’t remain in Shechem.