⁷ Then they told Jotham, so he went and stood on the top of ^(A)Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, “Listen to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ The trees surely went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, with ^[a]which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good produce and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹² Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which makes God and men glad, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in ^[b]truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “So now, if you have dealt in ^[c]truth and integrity and made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(B)Jerubbaal and his house and ^[d]have dealt with him according to the bountiful works of his hands— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and ^[e]risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ but you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed ^(C)his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, ^(D)the son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your ^[f]relative— ¹⁹ if then you have dealt in ^[g]truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, be glad in Abimelech, and let him also be glad in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and ^[h]Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from ^[i]Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.” ²¹ Then Jotham escaped and fled and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother.