Chronological
8 ¶ And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus that thou didst not call us when thou didst go to fight against Midian? And they chided with him sharply.
2 And he replied unto them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he spoke that word.
4 ¶ And Gideon came to pass the Jordan, he and the three hundred men that were with him, faint from the pursuit.
5 And he said unto those of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint that I may pursue after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
6 And the principals of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thy army?
7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns and the briers of the wilderness.
8 And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke unto them likewise; and those of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
9 And he spoke also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the sons of the east, for one hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword had been slain.
11 And Gideon went up by the way of those that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and smote the camp, for the camp was secure.
12 And as Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna and terrified all the host.
13 And Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle before the sun was up
14 and caught a young man of the men of Succoth and enquired of him; and he described unto him the principals of Succoth and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.
15 And he came unto the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
16 And he took the elders of the city and thorns and briars of the wilderness, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17 Likewise he beat down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.
18 ¶ Then he said unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were those whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king.
19 And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Rise up and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
22 ¶ Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son and thy son’s son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
23 But Gideon replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.
24 And Gideon said unto them, I desire to make a request of you that ye each one would give me the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and each one cast therein the earrings of his prey.
26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, without the ornaments and collars and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian and without the chains that were about their camels’ necks.
27 And Gideon made an ephod of them and kept it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel fornicated after it in that place, and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house.
28 Thus Midian was broken before the sons of Israel so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land rested forty years in the days of Gideon.
29 ¶ And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house.
30 And Gideon had seventy sons that came out of his loins, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
32 And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in a good old age and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash, his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the sons of Israel turned again and fornicated after the Baalim and made Baalberith their god.
34 And the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side,
35 neither were they merciful with the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the good which he had done unto Israel.
9 ¶ And Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,
2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, What would seem better unto you, that seventy persons reign over you, all the sons of Jerubbaal; or that one reign over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
3 And his mother’s brethren spoke for him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.
4 And they gave him seventy shekels of silver out of the house of Baalberith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light men who followed him.
5 And coming unto his father’s house at Ophrah, he slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons, upon a stone; yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left, for he hid himself.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together with all the house of Millo {Heb. the congregation} and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
7 ¶ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
8 The trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
9 But the olive tree replied, Should I leave my fatness, which because of me, God and man are honoured, to go and sway over the trees?
10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou and reign over us.
11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit to go and sway over the trees?
12 Then the trees said unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us.
13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, to go and sway over the trees?
14 Then all the trees said unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us.
15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and confide under my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
16 Now therefore, if ye have proceeded with truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have recompensed him according to the work of his hands
17 (For my father fought for you and cast his life far from him to deliver you out of the hand of Midian;
18 and ye are risen up against my father’s house this day and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon a stone and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother;)
19 if ye then have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech.
21 And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22 ¶ When Abimelech had dominated over Israel three years,
23 then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech
24 that the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and their blood might come to be laid upon Abimelech their brother who slew them and upon the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brethren.
25 And the men of Shechem set ambushers for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them; and it was told Abimelech.
26 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27 And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes and made merry and went into the house of their gods and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
28 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is not Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. For why should we serve him?
29 If these people were under my hand, then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army and come out.
30 And when Zebul, the prince of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech astutely, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brethren have come to Shechem; and, behold, they have fortified the city against thee.
32 Now, therefore, rise up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and put an ambush in the field.
33 And in the morning as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early and set upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then thou may do to them as thou shalt find occasion.
34 And Abimelech rose up and all the people that were with him, by night, and they put an ambush against Shechem in four companies.
35 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entering of the gate of the city; and Abimelech and all the people that were with him rose up from the ambush.
36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold people that come down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
37 And Gaal spoke again and said, See there come people who descend through the middle of the land, and another company comes along by the plain of Meonenim.
38 Then Zebul said unto him, Where is now thy mouth, with which thou didst say, Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou hast despised? Go out now and fight with them.
39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem.
42 And it came to pass on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.
43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies and set ambushes in the field and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them.
44 And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields and slew them.
45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city and slew the people that were therein and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.
46 And when those of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.
47 And it was told Abimelech how all those of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.
49 And all the people likewise cut down each one his bough and followed Abimelech and put them next to the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire upon them; so that all those of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
50 ¶ Then Abimelech went to Thebez and laid siege against Thebez and took it.
51 But in the midst of the city there was a strong tower, and all the men and women fled there, and all those of the city, and shutting the doors behind them, they climbed up to the top of the tower.
52 And Abimelech came to the tower, and fighting against it, he came to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53 But a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54 Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me that it not be said of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55 And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed each one unto his place.
56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did against his father in slaying his seventy brethren.
57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem God rendered upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.
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