Old/New Testament
Abimelech Murders His Brothers
9 Now Abimelech son of Jerub Baal[a] went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives.[b] He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family,[c] 2 “Tell[d] all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want[e] to have seventy men, all Jerub Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’”[f] 3 His mother’s relatives[g] spoke on his behalf to[h] all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal.[i] The leaders were drawn to Abimelech;[j] they said, “He is our close relative.”[k] 4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous[l] men as his followers.[m] 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half brothers,[n] the seventy legitimate[o] sons of Jerub Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub Baal’s youngest son, escaped,[p] because he hid. 6 All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar[q] in Shechem.
Jotham’s Parable
7 When Jotham heard the news,[r] he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,[s] “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8 “The trees were determined to go out[t] and choose a king for themselves.[u] They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’[v] 9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’[w]
10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’[x] 11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’[y]
12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king!’[z] 13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’[aa]
14 “So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!’[ab] 15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose[ac] me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches.[ad] Otherwise[ae] may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub Baal and his family,[af] if you have properly repaid him[ag]— 17 my father fought for you; he risked his life[ah] and delivered you from Midian’s power.[ai] 18 But you have attacked[aj] my father’s family[ak] today. You murdered his seventy legitimate[al] sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative.[am] 19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub Baal and his family[an] today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness![ao] 20 But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!” 21 Then Jotham ran away[ap] to Beer and lived there to escape from[aq] Abimelech his half-brother.[ar]
God Fulfills Jotham’s Curse
22 Abimelech commanded[as] Israel for three years. 23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility[at] between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal[au] to Abimelech. 24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother[av] who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them.[aw] 25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting[ax] bandits in[ay] the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it.[az]
26 Gaal son of Ebed[ba] came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him.[bb] 27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes,[bc] squeezed out the juice,[bd] and celebrated. They came to the temple[be] of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28 Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed?[bf] Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech?[bg] 29 If only these men[bh] were under my command,[bi] I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech,[bj] “Muster[bk] your army and come out for battle!”[bl]
30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious.[bm] 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah,[bn] reporting, “Beware![bo] Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming[bp] to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.[bq] 32 Now, come up[br] at night with your men[bs] and set an ambush in the field outside the city.[bt] 33 In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.”[bu]
34 So Abimelech and all his men came up[bv] at night and set an ambush outside Shechem; they divided into[bw] four units. 35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places. 36 Gaal saw the men[bx] and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills—it just looks like men.”[by] 37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center[bz] of the land. A unit[ca] is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.”[cb] 38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words,[cc] ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men[cd] you insulted?[ce] Go out now and fight them!” 39 So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out[cf] and fought Abimelech. 40 Abimelech chased him, and Gaal[cg] ran from him. Many Shechemites[ch] fell wounded at the entrance of the gate. 41 Abimelech went back[ci] to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.[cj]
42 The next day the Shechemites[ck] came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it,[cl] 43 he took his men[cm] and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city,[cn] he attacked and struck them down.[co] 44 Abimelech and his units[cp] attacked and blocked[cq] the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down. 45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled[cr] the city and spread salt over it.[cs]
46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem[ct] heard the news, they went to the stronghold[cu] of the temple of El Berith.[cv] 47 Abimelech heard[cw] that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place.[cx] 48 He and all his men[cy] went up on Mount Zalmon. He[cz] took an ax[da] in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it[db] on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!”[dc] 49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches[dd] against the stronghold and set fire to it.[de] All the people[df] of the Tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Abimelech moved on[dg] to Thebez; he besieged and captured it.[dh] 51 There was a fortified[di] tower[dj] in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire, 53 a woman threw an upper millstone[dk] down on his[dl] head and shattered his skull. 54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons,[dm] “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say,[dn] ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.[do]
56 God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half brothers.[dp] 57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub Baal fell[dq] on them.
Stability Restored
10 After Abimelech’s death,[dr] Tola son of Puah, grandson[ds] of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar,[dt] rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country. 2 He led[du] Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.
3 Jair the Gileadite rose up after him; he led Israel for twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair[dv]—they are in the land of Gilead.[dw] 5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
The Lord’s Patience Runs Short
6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.[dx] They worshiped[dy] the Baals and the Ashtoreths,[dz] as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines.[ea] They abandoned the Lord and did not worship[eb] him. 7 The Lord was furious with Israel[ec] and turned them over to[ed] the Philistines and Ammonites. 8 They ruthlessly oppressed[ee] the Israelites that eighteenth year[ef]—that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.[eg] Israel suffered greatly.[eh]
10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped[ei] the Baals.” 11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian[ej] when they oppressed you?[ek] You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power.[el] 13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped[em] other gods, I will not deliver you again. 14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!”[en] 15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit,[eo] but deliver us today!”[ep] 16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned[eq] and worshiped[er] the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.[es]
An Outcast Becomes a General
17 The Ammonites assembled[et] and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 18 The leaders[eu] of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge[ev] against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”
Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic
17 Now on[a] one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees[b] and teachers of the law[c] sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem),[d] and the power of the Lord was with him[e] to heal. 18 Just then[f] some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man[g] on a stretcher.[h] They[i] were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.[j] 19 But[k] since they found[l] no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof[m] and let him down on the stretcher[n] through the roof tiles[o] right[p] in front of Jesus.[q] 20 When[r] Jesus[s] saw their[t] faith he said, “Friend,[u] your sins are forgiven.”[v] 21 Then[w] the experts in the law[x] and the Pharisees began to think[y] to themselves,[z] “Who is this man[aa] who is uttering blasphemies?[ab] Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived[ac] their hostile thoughts,[ad] he said to them,[ae] “Why are you raising objections[af] within yourselves? 23 Which is easier,[ag] to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know[ah] that the Son of Man[ai] has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man[aj]—“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher[ak] and go home.”[al] 25 Immediately[am] he stood up before them, picked[an] up the stretcher[ao] he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying[ap] God. 26 Then[aq] astonishment[ar] seized them all, and they glorified[as] God. They were filled with awe,[at] saying, “We have seen incredible[au] things[av] today.”[aw]
The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners
27 After[ax] this, Jesus[ay] went out and saw a tax collector[az] named Levi[ba] sitting at the tax booth.[bb] “Follow me,”[bc] he said to him. 28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything[bd] behind.[be]
29 Then[bf] Levi gave a great banquet[bg] in his house for Jesus,[bh] and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting[bi] at the table with them. 30 But[bj] the Pharisees[bk] and their experts in the law[bl] complained[bm] to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”[bn] 31 Jesus[bo] answered them, “Those who are well don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.[bp] 32 I have not come[bq] to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”[br]
The Superiority of the New
33 Then[bs] they said to him, “John’s[bt] disciples frequently fast[bu] and pray,[bv] and so do the disciples of the Pharisees,[bw] but yours continue to eat and drink.”[bx] 34 So[by] Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the wedding guests[bz] fast while the bridegroom[ca] is with them, can you?[cb] 35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them,[cc] at that time[cd] they will fast.” 36 He also told them a parable:[ce] “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews[cf] it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn[cg] the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.[ch] 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.[ci] If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins.[cj] 39 [ck] No[cl] one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”[cm]
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