Judges:9

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* 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 , * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * And all the men of Shechem gathered together with 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 to anoint a king over them , and they said unto the olive tree , Reign thou over us . * 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 ? * 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 to go and sway over the trees ? * Then the trees said unto the vine , Come thou [and ] reign over us . * And the vine said unto them , Should I leave my wine , which cheers God and man , to go and sway over the trees ? * Then all the trees said 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 ] confide under my shadow ; and if not , let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon . * 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 * (For my father fought for you and cast his life far [from him ] to deliver you out of the hand of Midian ; * 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 ;) * 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 . * 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 dominated over Israel three years , * 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 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 . * 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 . * 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 trod [the grapes ] and made merry and went into the house of their gods and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech . * 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 ? * If these people were under my hand , then I would remove Abimelech . And he said to Abimelech , Increase thine army and come out . * And when Zebul , the prince of the city , heard the words of Gaal , the son of Ebed , his anger was kindled . * 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 . * Now , therefore , rise up by night , thou and the people that [are ] with thee , and put an ambush in the field . * 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 . * And Abimelech rose up and all the people that [were ] with him , by night , and they put an ambush 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 and all the people that [were ] with him rose up from the ambush . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 next day that the people went out into the field , and they told Abimelech . * 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 . * 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 [were ] therein and beat down the city and sowed it with salt . * And when those of the tower of Shechem heard [that ], they entered into the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith . * And it was told Abimelech how all those of the tower of Shechem were gathered together . * 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 ]. * 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 . * Then Abimelech went to Thebez and laid siege against Thebez and took it . * 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 . * And Abimelech came to the tower , and fighting against it , he came to the door of the tower to burn it with fire . * But a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech 's head and crushed his skull . * 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 . * And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead , they departed each one unto his place . * Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech , which he did against his father in slaying his seventy brethren . * 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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