Old/New Testament
9 Then Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem, to his mother’s brethren, and communed with them and with all the family and House of his mother’s father, saying,
2 “Please say, in the audience of all the men of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: that all the sons of Jerubbaal (seventy people) reign over you, or that one reigns over you?’ Remember, also, that I am your flesh and bone.”
3 Then his mother’s brethren spoke all these words about him in the audience of all the men of Shechem; and their hearts were moved to follow Abimelech. For they said, “He is our brother.”
4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the House of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
5 And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy people upon one stone. Still, Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, remained. For he hid himself.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, with all the House of Millo, and came and made Abimelech king on the plain where the stone was erected in Shechem.
7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8 “The trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’
9 “But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my fatness with which they honor God and man and go to advance above the trees?’
10 “Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come! Be king over us!’
11 “But the fig tree answered them, ‘Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to advance above the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come! Be king over us!’
13 “But the vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my wine, by which I cheer God and man, and go to advance above the trees?’
14 “Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come! Reign over us!’
15 “And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you will indeed anoint me king over you, come and put your trust under my shadow. And if not, the fire shall come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
16 “Now therefore, if you are true and incorruptible in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal, and with his House, and have done to him according to what his hands deserve
17 “(for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you out of the hands of Midian)—
18 “and you have risen up against my father’s House this day, and have killed his children (seventy people) upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother—
19 “if you, then, have dealt truly and purely with Jerubbaal and with his House this day, then rejoice with Abimelech and let him rejoice with you!
20 “But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and the House of Millo. Also, let a fire come forth from the men of Shechem, and from the House of Millo, and consume Abimelech.”
21 And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech, his brother.
22 So, Abimelech reigned for three years over Israel.
23 But God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem broke their promise to Abimelech,
24 so that the cruelty toward the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and their blood might come and be laid upon Abimelech, their brother who had killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who had aided him to kill his brethren.
25 So the men of Shechem set men in waiting for him, on the tops of the mountains, who robbed all who passed that way by them. And it was told to Abimelech.
26 Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren. And they went to Shechem. And the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27 Therefore, they went out into the field and gathered in their grapes and trod them, and made merry, and went into the house of their gods, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
28 Then 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 officer? Serve rather the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. For why should we serve him?
29 “Now, I wish this people were under my hand. Then I would put away Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out.”
30 And when Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, his wrath was kindled.
31 Therefore, he sent messengers to Abimelech privately, saying, “Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brethren, have come to Shechem. And behold, they fortify the city against you.
32 “Now, therefore, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field,
33 “and rise early in the morning, as soon as the Sun is up, and assault the city. And when he and the people who are with him shall come out against you, do to him what you can.”
34 So Abimelech rose up by night, and all the people who were with him. And they lay in wait against Shechem, in four bands.
35 Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And Abimelech and the folk who were with him rose up from lying in wait.
36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” And Zebul said to him, “The shadows of the mountains seem as men to you.”
37 And Gaal spoke again, and said, “See, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and another band comes by the way of the plain of Meonenim.”
38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where, now, is your mouth that said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Is not this the people that you have despised? Please go out, now, and fight with them.”
39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
40 But Abimelech pursued him; and he fled before him. And many were overthrown and wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.
41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah. And Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, so that they would not dwell in Shechem.
42 And the next day, the people went out into the field, which was told to Abimelech.
43 And he took the people and divided them into three bands, and laid wait in the fields, and watched. And behold, the people had come out of the city. And he rose up against them and struck them.
44 And Abimelech, and the bands who were with him, rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And the two other bands ran upon all the people who were in the field and killed them.
45 And when Abimelech had fought against the city all that day, he took the city and killed the people who were in it, and destroyed the city, and sowed salt in it.
46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard it, they entered into a stronghold of the house of the god Berith.
47 And it was told to Abimelech, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 And Abimelech got up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took axes with him and cut down boughs of trees, and took them, and bore them on his shoulder, and said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do likewise!”
49 Then, each of all the people also cut down his own bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire with them. So, all the men of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and besieged Thebez, and took it.
51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women had fled there, and all the chiefs of the city, and shut themselves in, and went up to the top of the tower.
52 And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and went hard to the door of the tower to set it on fire.
53 But a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head and broke his skull.
54 Then Abimelech hastily called his page who bore his harness and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that men do not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ And his page thrust him through, and he died.
55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each man departed to his own home.
56 Thus, God reckoned for the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in slaying his seventy brethren.
57 Also, God brought all the wickedness of the men of Shechem upon their heads. So, upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.
10 After Abimelech, Tola—the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, who dwelt in Shamir on Mount Ephraim—arose to defend Israel.
2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.
3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty-two years.
4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth Jair to this day and are in the land of Gilead.
5 And Jair died and was buried in Camon.
6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtoreth and the gods of Aram and the gods of Sidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
7 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon,
8 who, from that year on, shattered and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years, all the children of Israel who were beyond Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 Moreover, the children of Ammon went over Jordan to fight against Judah and against Benjamin and against the House of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely tormented.
10 Then, the children of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our own God and have served Baal.
11 And the LORD said to the children of Israel, “Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines?
12 “The Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites also oppressed you, and you cried to Me; and I saved you out of their hands.
13 “Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore, I will no longer deliver you.
14 “Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your tribulation.”
15 And the children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever pleases You. Only, please deliver us this day!”
16 Then they put away the strange gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
17 Then, the children of Ammon gathered themselves together and pitched in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves and pitched in Mizpah.
18 And the people and princes of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will begin the battle against the children of Ammon, the same shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
17 And it happened that on a certain day, as He was teaching, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law sat by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was in him, to heal them.
18 Then behold, men brought a man lying in a bed, who was a paralytic, and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him.
19 And when they could not find a way by which they might bring him in (because of the crowd), they went up on the house and let him down through the tiling (bed and all) in the midst, before Jesus.
20 And when He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God only?”
22 But when Jesus perceived their reasoning, He answered, and said to them, “Why do you reason in your hearts?
23 “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’, or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’”
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on Earth, I say to you (said He to the paralytic), Arise. Take up your bed. And go to your house.”
25 And immediately he rose up before them and took up his bed upon which he lay and departed to his own house, praising God.
26 And they were all amazed, and praised God, and were filled with fear, saying, “Doubtless we have seen strange things today!”
27 And after that, He went forth and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth, and said to him, “Follow Me.”
28 And he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
29 Then Levi made Him a great feast in his own house, where there was a great multitude of tax collectors, and of others who sat at table with them.
30 But those who were scribes and Pharisees among them, murmured against His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Then Jesus answered, and said to them, “Those who are whole, do not need the Physician, but those who are sick.
32 I did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”
33 Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John often fast and pray, and of the Pharisees also, but Yours eat and drink?”
34 And He said to them, “Can you make the children of the wedding chamber fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them?
35 “But the days will come when even the bridegroom shall be taken away from them. Then shall they fast in those days.”
36 Then He also told them a parable. “No one sews a piece of a new garment into an old one. For then the new tears it, and the piece taken out of the new does not match the old.
37 “Also, no one pours new wine into old vessels. For then the new wine will break the vessels, and it will run out. And the vessels will perish.
38 “But new wine must be poured into new vessels. So that both are preserved.
39 “Also, no one who drinks old wine immediately desires new. For he says, ‘The old is better.’”
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.