rsv Judges:9:23-41 SEEK
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And God sent an evil spirit between Abim '
elech and the men of Shechem ;
and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abim '
elech ;
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that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba '
al might come and their blood be laid upon Abim '
elech their brother ,
who slew them ,
and upon the men of Shechem ,
who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers .
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And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops ,
and they robbed all who passed by them along that way ;
and it was told Abim '
elech .
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And Ga '
al the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his kinsmen ;
and the men of Shechem put confidence in him .
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And they went out into the field ,
and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them ,
and held festival ,
and went into the house of their god ,
and ate and drank and reviled Abim '
elech .
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And Ga '
al the son of Ebed said , "
Who is Abim '
elech ,
and who are we of Shechem ,
that we should serve him ?
Did not the son of Jerubba '
al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem ?
Why then should we serve him ?
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Would that this people were under my hand !
then I would remove Abim '
elech .
I would say to Abim '
elech , `
Increase your army ,
and come out .'"
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When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga '
al the son of Ebed ,
his anger was kindled .
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And he sent messengers to Abim '
elech at Aru '
mah ,
saying , "
Behold ,
Ga '
al the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem ,
and they are stirring up the city against you .
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Now therefore ,
go by night ,
you and the men that are with you ,
and lie in wait in the fields .
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Then in the morning ,
as soon as the sun is up ,
rise early and rush upon the city ;
and when he and the men that are with him come out against you ,
you may do to them as occasion offers ."
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And Abim '
elech and all the men that were with him rose up by night ,
and laid wait against Shechem in four companies .
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And Ga '
al the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city ;
and Abim '
elech and the men that were with him rose from the ambush .
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And when Ga '
al saw the men ,
he said to Zebul , "
Look ,
men are coming down from the mountain tops !"
And Zebul said to him , "
You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men ."
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Ga '
al spoke again and said , "
Look ,
men are coming down from the center of the land ,
and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners '
Oak ."
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Then Zebul said to him , "
Where is your mouth now ,
you who said , `
Who is Abim '
elech ,
that we should serve him ?'
Are not these the men whom you despised ?
Go out now and fight with them ."
*
And Ga '
al went out at the head of the men of Shechem ,
and fought with Abim '
elech .
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And Abim '
elech chased him ,
and he fled before him ;
and many fell wounded ,
up to the entrance of the gate .
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And Abim '
elech dwelt at Aru '
mah ;
and Zebul drove out Ga '
al and his kinsmen ,
so that they could not live on at Shechem .