Judges:8-9
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And the men of Ephraim said unto him ,
Why hast thou served us thus ,
that thou calledst us not ,
when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites ?
And they did chide with him sharply .
*
And he said unto them ,
What have I done now in comparison of you ?
Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer ?
*
God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian ,
Oreb and Zeeb :
and what was I able to do in comparison of you ?
Then their anger was abated toward him ,
when he had said that .
*
And Gideon came to Jordan ,
and passed over ,
he ,
and the three hundred men that were with him ,
faint ,
yet pursuing them .
*
And he said unto the men of Succoth ,
Give ,
I pray you ,
loaves of bread unto the people that follow me ;
for they be faint ,
and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna ,
kings of Midian .
*
And the princes of Succoth said ,
Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand ,
that we should give bread unto thine army ?
*
And Gideon said ,
Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand ,
then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers .
*
And he went up thence to Penuel ,
and spake unto them likewise :
and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him .
*
And he spake also unto the men of Penuel ,
saying ,
When I come again in peace ,
I will break down this tower .
*
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 children of the east :
for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword .
*
And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah ,
and smote the host :
for the host was secure .
*
And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled ,
he pursued after them ,
and took the two kings of Midian ,
Zebah and Zalmunna ,
and discomfited all the host .
*
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up ,
*
And caught a young man of the men of Succoth ,
and enquired of him :
and he described unto him the princes of Succoth ,
and the elders thereof ,
even threescore and seventeen men .
*
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 thine hand ,
that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary ?
*
And he took the elders of the city ,
and thorns of the wilderness and briers ,
and with them he taught the men of Succoth .
*
And he beat down the tower of Penuel ,
and slew the men of the city .
*
Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna ,
What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor ?
And they answered ,
As thou art ,
so were they ;
each one resembled the children of a king .
*
And he said ,
They were my brethren ,
even the sons of my mother :
as the LORD liveth ,
if ye had saved them alive ,
I would not slay you .
*
And he said unto Jether his firstborn ,
Up ,
and slay them .
But the youth drew not his sword :
for he feared ,
because he was yet a youth .
*
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 .
*
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 .
*
And Gideon said unto them ,
I will not rule over you ,
neither shall my son rule over you :
the LORD shall rule over you .
*
And Gideon said unto them ,
I would desire a request of you ,
that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey . (
For they had golden earrings ,
because they were Ishmaelites .)
*
And they answered ,
We will willingly give them .
And they spread a garment ,
and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey .
*
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold ;
beside ornaments ,
and collars ,
and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian ,
and beside the chains that were about their camels '
necks .
*
And Gideon made an ephod thereof ,
and put it in his city ,
even in Ophrah :
and all Israel went thither a whoring after it :
which thing became a snare unto Gideon ,
and to his house .
*
Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel ,
so that they lifted up their heads no more .
And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon .
*
And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house .
*
And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten :
for he had many wives .
*
And his concubine that was in Shechem ,
she also bare him a son ,
whose name he called Abimelech .
*
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 .
*
And it came to pass ,
as soon as Gideon was dead ,
that the children of Israel turned again ,
and went a whoring after Baalim ,
and made Baalberith their god .
*
And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God ,
who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side :
*
Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal ,
namely ,
Gideon ,
according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel .
*
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother '
s brethren ,
and communed with them ,
and with all the family of the house of his mother '
s father ,
saying ,
*
Speak ,
I pray you ,
in the ears of all the men of Shechem ,
Whether is better for you ,
either that all the sons of Jerubbaal ,
which are threescore and ten persons ,
reign over you ,
or that one reign over you ?
remember also that I am your bone and your flesh .
*
And his mother '
s brethren spake of 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 .
*
And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith ,
wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons ,
which followed him .
*
And he went unto his father '
s house at Ophrah ,
and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal ,
being threescore and ten persons ,
upon one stone :
notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left ;
for he hid himself .
*
And all the men of Shechem gathered together ,
and all the house of Millo ,
and went ,
and made Abimelech king ,
by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem .
*
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 .
*
The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them ;
and they said unto the olive tree ,
Reign thou over us .
*
But the olive tree said unto them ,
Should I leave my fatness ,
wherewith by me they honour God and man ,
and go to be promoted over the trees ?
*
And the trees said to the fig tree ,
Come thou ,
and reign over us .
*
But the fig tree said unto them ,
Should I forsake my sweetness ,
and my good fruit ,
and go to be promoted over the trees ?
*
Then said the trees unto the vine ,
Come thou ,
and reign over us .
*
And the vine said unto them ,
Should I leave my wine ,
which cheereth God and man ,
and go to be promoted over the trees ?
*
Then said all the trees unto the bramble ,
Come thou ,
and reign over us .
*
And the bramble said unto the trees ,
If in truth ye anoint me king over you ,
then come and put your trust in my shadow :
and if not ,
let fire come out of the bramble ,
and devour the cedars of Lebanon .
*
Now therefore ,
if ye have done truly and sincerely ,
in that ye have made Abimelech king ,
and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house ,
and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands ;
* (
For my father fought for you ,
and adventured his life far ,
and delivered you out of the hand of Midian :
*
And ye are risen up against my father '
s house this day ,
and have slain his sons ,
threescore and ten persons ,
upon one stone ,
and have made Abimelech ,
the son of his maidservant ,
king over the men of Shechem ,
because he is your brother ;)
*
If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day ,
then rejoice ye in Abimelech ,
and let him also rejoice in you :
*
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 .
*
And Jotham ran away ,
and fled ,
and went to Beer ,
and dwelt there ,
for fear of Abimelech his brother .
*
When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel ,
*
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem ;
and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech :
*
That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come ,
and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother ,
which slew them ;
and upon the men of Shechem ,
which aided him in the killing of his brethren .
*
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains ,
and they robbed all that came along that way by them :
and it was told Abimelech .
*
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 .
*
And they went out into the fields ,
and gathered their vineyards ,
and trode the grapes ,
and made merry ,
and went into the house of their god ,
and did eat and drink ,
and cursed Abimelech .
*
And Gaal the son of Ebed said ,
Who is Abimelech ,
and who is Shechem ,
that we should serve him ?
is not he the son of Jerubbaal ?
and Zebul his officer ?
serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem :
for why should we serve him ?
*
And would to God this people were under my hand !
then would I remove Abimelech .
And he said to Abimelech ,
Increase thine army ,
and come out .
*
And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed ,
his anger was kindled .
*
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily ,
saying ,
Behold ,
Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem ;
and ,
behold ,
they fortify the city against thee .
*
Now therefore up by night ,
thou and the people that is with thee ,
and lie in wait in the field :
*
And it shall be ,
that 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 is with him come out against thee ,
then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion .
*
And Abimelech rose up ,
and all the people that were with him ,
by night ,
and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies .
*
And Gaal the son of Ebed went out ,
and stood in the entering of the gate of the city :
and Abimelech rose up ,
and the people that were with him ,
from lying in wait .
*
And when Gaal saw the people ,
he said to Zebul ,
Behold ,
there come people down from the top of the mountains .
And Zebul said unto him ,
Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men .
*
And Gaal spake again and said ,
See there come people down by the middle of the land ,
and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim .
*
Then said Zebul unto him ,
Where is now thy mouth ,
wherewith thou saidst ,
Who is Abimelech ,
that we should serve him ?
is not this the people that thou hast despised ?
go out ,
I pray now ,
and fight with them .
*
And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem ,
and fought with Abimelech .
*
And Abimelech chased him ,
and he fled before him ,
and many were overthrown and wounded ,
even unto the entering of the gate .
*
And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah :
and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren ,
that they should not dwell in Shechem .
*
And it came to pass on the morrow ,
that the people went out into the field ;
and they told Abimelech .
*
And he took the people ,
and divided them into three companies ,
and laid wait 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 .
*
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 .
*
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day ;
and he took the city ,
and slew the people that was therein ,
and beat down the city ,
and sowed it with salt .
*
And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that ,
they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith .
*
And it was told Abimelech ,
that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together .
*
And Abimelech gat him 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 .
*
And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough ,
and followed Abimelech ,
and put them to the hold ,
and set the hold on fire upon them ;
so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also ,
about a thousand men and women .
*
Then went Abimelech to Thebez ,
and encamped against Thebez ,
and took it .
*
But there was a strong tower within the city ,
and thither fled all the men and women ,
and all they of the city ,
and shut it to them ,
and gat them up to the top of the tower .
*
And Abimelech came unto the tower ,
and fought against it ,
and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire .
*
And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech '
s head ,
and all to brake his skull .
*
Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer ,
and said unto him ,
Draw thy sword ,
and slay me ,
that men say not of me ,
A woman slew him .
And his young man thrust him through ,
and he died .
*
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead ,
they departed every man unto his place .
*
Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech ,
which he did unto his father ,
in slaying his seventy brethren :
*
And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads :
and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal .
*
And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah ,
the son of Dodo ,
a man of Issachar ;
and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim .