Beginning
8 The men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why did you treat us this way? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight against Midian?” They were very angry at Gideon.
2 But he answered them, “I have not done as well as you! The small part you did was better than all that my people of Abiezer did. 3 God allowed you to capture Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian. How can I compare what I did with what you did?” When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, they were not as angry anymore.
Gideon Captures Two Kings
4 Then Gideon and his 300 men came to the Jordan River. They were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side. 5 Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my soldiers some bread. They are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 But the leaders of Succoth said, “Why should we give your soldiers bread? You haven’t caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.”
7 Then Gideon said, “The Lord will help me capture Zebah and Zalmunna. After that, I will whip your skin with thorns and briers from the desert.”
8 Gideon left Succoth and went to the city of Peniel. He asked the men there for food. It was just as he had asked the men of Succoth. And the men of Peniel gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth. 9 So Gideon said to the men of Peniel, “After I win the victory, I will come back here. And I will pull down this tower.”
10 Zebah and Zalmunna and their army were in the city of Karkor. Their army had about 15,000 men. They were all who were left of the army of the peoples of the east. Already 120,000 soldiers of that army had been killed.
11 Gideon used the road of those who live in tents. This road is east of Nobah and Jogbehah. Gideon attacked the enemy army when they did not expect it. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, ran away. But Gideon chased and captured them. Gideon and his men defeated the enemy army.
13 Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle. He and his men returned by the Pass of Heres. 14 Gideon captured a young man from Succoth and asked him some questions. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of 77 men. They were the officers and elders of Succoth.
Gideon Punishes Succoth
15 Then Gideon came to Succoth. He said to the men of that city, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me by saying, ‘Why should we give bread to your tired men? You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.’” 16 So Gideon took the elders of the city. He punished them with thorns and briers from the desert. 17 He also pulled down the tower of Peniel. Then he killed the men in that city.
18 Gideon spoke to Zebah and Zalmunna. He said, “You killed some men on Mount Tabor. What were those men like?”
Zebah and Zalmunna answered, “They were like you. Each one of them seemed like a prince.”
19 Gideon said, “Those were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I would not kill you if you had spared them.” 20 Then Gideon turned to Jether, his oldest son. Gideon said to him, “Kill them.” But Jether was only a boy and was afraid. So he did not take out his sword.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on. Kill us yourself. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a man to do a man’s job.’” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. Then he took the decorations off their camels’ necks.
Gideon Makes an Idol
22 The people of Israel said to Gideon, “You saved us from the Midianites. So now, rule over us. We want you, your son and your grandson to rule over us.”
23 But Gideon told them, “The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you. And my son will not rule over you.” 24 He said, “I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from the things you took in the fighting.” (The Ishmaelite men wore gold earrings. And some Ishmaelites had been defeated in the battle.)
25 So the people of Israel said to Gideon, “We will gladly give you what you want.” So they put a coat down on the ground. Each man threw an earring onto the coat. 26 The gold earrings weighed about 43 pounds. This did not count the weight of the other gifts the people gave to Gideon. They gave him decorations, necklaces and purple robes. These were things that the kings of Midian had worn. The people also gave him chains from the camels of the kings of Midian. 27 Gideon used the gold to make an idol. He put the idol in his hometown of Ophrah. All the people of Israel were unfaithful to God and worshiped the idol. It became a trap that caused Gideon and his family to sin.
The Death of Gideon
28 So Midian was forced to be under the rule of Israel. Midian did not cause trouble anymore. And the land had peace for 40 years, as long as Gideon was alive.
29 Gideon son of Joash went to his home to live. 30 He had 70 sons of his own. He had many sons because he had many wives. 31 Gideon had a slave woman who lived in Shechem. He also had a son by her. He named that son Abimelech. 32 So Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father. That tomb is in Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel were again unfaithful to God. They followed the Baal gods. They made Baal-of-the-Agreement their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God. He had saved them from all their enemies who were living all around them. 35 And Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, had done many good things for Israel. But Israel was not kind to the family of Gideon for these things.
Abimelech Becomes King
9 Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, went to his uncles. They lived in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother’s family group, 2 “Ask the leaders of Shechem this question: ‘Is it better for you to be ruled by the 70 sons of Jerub-Baal or to be ruled by only 1 man?’ Remember, I am your relative.”
3 Abimelech’s uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem. They asked them that question. All the leaders decided to follow Abimelech. They said, “He is our brother.” 4 So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-fourths pounds of silver. The silver was from the temple of the god Baal-of-the-Agreement. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men. They followed Abimelech wherever he went. 5 Abimelech went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father. There Abimelech murdered his 70 brothers. They were the sons of Abimelech’s father, Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped. 6 Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo came together. They gathered beside the great tree at the stone pillar in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.
Jotham’s Story
7 When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. Jotham shouted to the people: “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem. Then God may listen to you! 8 One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘You be king over us!’
9 “But the olive tree said, ‘Men and gods are honored by my oil. Should I stop making it just to go and sway over the other trees?’
10 “Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king!’
11 “But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit? Should I stop just to go and sway over the other trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king!’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘My wine makes men and gods happy. Should I stop making it just to go and sway over the trees?’
14 “Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “But the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to appoint me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade! But if you do not want to do this, let fire come out of the thornbush. Let the fire burn up the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now, were you completely honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Have you been fair to Gideon and his family? Have you treated Gideon as you should? 17 Remember, my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the power of the Midianites. 18 But now you have turned against my father’s family. You have killed my father’s 70 sons on one stone. You have made Abimelech king over the people of Shechem. He is the son of my father’s slave girl! You have made Abimelech king just because he is your relative. 19 So then, if you have been honest and sincere to Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you! 20 But if you have not acted right, may fire come out of Abimelech! May that fire completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and burn up Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to the city of Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
Abimelech Fights Against Shechem
22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23 Then God sent an evil spirit to make trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. So the leaders of Shechem turned against him. 24 Abimelech had killed Gideon’s 70 sons. They were Abimelech’s own brothers. And the leaders of Shechem had helped him kill them. So God sent the evil spirit to punish them. 25 The leaders of Shechem were against Abimelech then. They put men on the hilltops. These men attacked and robbed everyone who went by. Abimelech was told about these attacks.
26 A man named Gaal and his brothers moved into Shechem. He was the son of Ebed. The leaders of Shechem decided to trust and follow Gaal. 27 The people of Shechem went out to the vineyards to pick grapes. They walked on the grapes to make wine. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god. The people ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “We are the men of Shechem. Why should we obey Abimelech? Who does he think he is? Isn’t Abimelech one of Gideon’s sons? Didn’t Abimelech make Zebul his officer? We should not obey Abimelech! We should obey the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father. Why should we obey Abimelech? 29 If you made me commander of these people, I would get rid of Abimelech! I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready and come out to battle!’”
30 Now Zebul was the ruler of Shechem. He heard what Gaal son of Ebed said. And Zebul became very angry. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in the city of Arumah. The message said, “Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal’s brothers have come to Shechem. Gaal is turning the city against you! 32 So now you and your men should get up in the night. Then go lie in the fields outside the city. 33 When the sun comes up in the morning, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out to fight you. Then do what you can to them.”
34 So Abimelech and all his soldiers got up during the night. They went near Shechem and separated into four groups. There they hid. 35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate. As he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places.
36 When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the mountains!”
But Zebul said, “You are seeing the shadows of the mountains. The shadows just look like people.”
37 But again Gaal said, “Look, there are people coming down from the center of the land. And there is a group coming from the fortune-tellers’ tree!”
38 Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your bragging now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech? Why should we obey him?’ You made fun of these men. Now go out and fight them.”
39 So Gaal led the men of Shechem out to fight Abimelech. 40 Abimelech and his men chased them. Many of Gaal’s men were killed before they could get back to the city gate. 41 Then Abimelech stayed at Arumah. Zebul forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
42 The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields. Abimelech was told about it. 43 So he separated his men into three groups. And he hid them in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he jumped up and attacked them. 44 Abimelech and his group ran to the entrance gate to the city. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and killed them. 45 Abimelech and his men fought the city of Shechem all day. They captured it and killed its people. Then Abimelech tore down the city. And he threw salt[a] over the ruins so nothing would ever grow there.
The Tower of Shechem
46 The people who lived at the nearby Tower of Shechem heard what had happened to Shechem. So the leaders gathered in the safest room of the temple of the god Baal-of-the-Agreement. 47 Abimelech heard that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem had gathered there. 48 So he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon, near Shechem. Abimelech took an ax and cut some branches. Then he put them on his shoulders. He said to all his men with him, “Hurry! Do what I have done!” 49 So all those men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled the branches against the safest room of the temple. Then they set them on fire and burned the people in the room. So all the people who lived at the Tower of Shechem also died. There were about 1,000 men and women.
Abimelech’s Death
50 Then Abimelech went to the city of Thebez. He surrounded the city, attacked it and captured it. 51 But inside the city was a strong tower. All the men and women of that city ran to the tower. When they got inside, they locked the door behind them. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came to the tower and attacked it. He went up to the door of the tower to set it on fire. 53 As Abimelech came near, a woman dropped a large stone for grinding grain on his head. The stone crushed Abimelech’s skull.
54 He quickly called to the officer who carried his armor. He said, “Take out your sword and kill me. I don’t want people to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.’” So the officer stabbed Abimelech, and he died. 55 When the people of Israel saw Abimelech was dead, they all returned home.
56 In that way God punished Abimelech for all the evil he had done. Abimelech had sinned against his own father by killing his 70 brothers. 57 God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil they had done. So the curse Jotham had spoken came true. (Jotham was the youngest son of Gideon.)
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.