Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of (A)Mount Gerizim, and raised his voice and called out. And he said to them, “Listen to me, you [a]leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. Once the trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my fatness with [b]which God and mankind 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 give up my sweetness and my good [c]fruit, 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 give up my new wine, which cheers God and mankind, 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 you [d]really are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

16 “Now then, if you have acted with [e]honesty and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with (B)Jerubbaal and his house, and [f]have dealt with him [g]as he deserved— 17 for my father fought for you, and [h]risked his life and saved you from the hand of Midian; 18 but in fact 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 female slave, king over the [i]leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative— 19 so if you have acted with [j]honesty and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, be joyful about Abimelech, and may he also be joyful about you. 20 But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume the [k]leaders of Shechem and [l]Beth-millo; and may fire come out of the [m]leaders of Shechem and from [n]Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.” 21 Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer; and he stayed there because of his brother Abimelech.

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Notas al pie

  1. Judges 9:7 Or landowners
  2. Judges 9:9 Lit which by me
  3. Judges 9:11 Lit produce
  4. Judges 9:15 Or sincerely
  5. Judges 9:16 Or sincerity
  6. Judges 9:16 Lit if you have
  7. Judges 9:16 Lit according to the accomplishment of his hands
  8. Judges 9:17 Lit threw his soul away
  9. Judges 9:18 Or landowners
  10. Judges 9:19 Or sincerity
  11. Judges 9:20 Or landowners
  12. Judges 9:20 Or the house of Millo
  13. Judges 9:20 Or landowners
  14. Judges 9:20 Or the house of Millo

Jotham’s fable

When Jotham was told about this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He raised his voice and called out, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

“Once the trees went out to anoint a king over themselves. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’

“But the olive tree replied to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, which is how gods and humans are honored, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’

10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be king over us!’

11 “The fig tree replied to them, ‘Should I stop producing my sweetness and my delicious fruit, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’

12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and be king over us!’

13 “But the vine replied to them, ‘Should I stop providing my wine that makes gods and humans happy, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’

14 “Finally, all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be king over us!’

15 “And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you’re acting faithfully in anointing me king over you, come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’

16 “So now, if you acted faithfully and innocently when you made Abimelech king, and if you’ve done right by Jerubbaal and his household, and have treated him as his actions deserve— 17 my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from Midian’s power, 18 but today you’ve risen up against my father’s household, killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, his female servant’s son, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he’s your relative— 19 so if you’ve acted faithfully and innocently toward Jerubbaal and his household today, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. 20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and burn up Abimelech.”

21 Then Jotham ran away. He fled to Beer and stayed there for fear of his brother Abimelech.

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