9:22 Abimelech commanded 1 Israel for three years. 9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility 2 between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal 3 to Abimelech. 9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother 4 who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. 5 9:25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting 6 bandits in 7 the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. 8
9:26 Gaal son of Ebed 9 came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him. 10 9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, 11 squeezed out the juice, 12 and celebrated. They came to the temple 13 of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech. 9:28 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? 14 Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech? 15 9:29 If only these men 16 were under my command, 17 I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech, 18 “Muster 19 your army and come out for battle!” 20
9:30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious. 21 9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, 22 reporting, “Beware! 23 Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming 24 to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. 25 9:32 Now, come up 26 at night with your men 27 and set an ambush in the field outside the city. 28 9:33 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.” 29
9:34 So Abimelech and all his men came up 30 at night and set an ambush outside Shechem – they divided into 31 four units. 9:35 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. 9:36 Gaal saw the men 32 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.” 33 9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center 34 of the land. A unit 35 is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” 36 9:38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, 37 ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men 38 you insulted? 39 Go out now and fight them!” 9:39 So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out 40 and fought Abimelech. 9:40 Abimelech chased him, and Gaal 41 ran from him. Many Shechemites 42 fell wounded at the entrance of the gate. 9:41 Abimelech went back 43 to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. 44
9:42 The next day the Shechemites 45 came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it, 46 9:43 he took his men 47 and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, 48 he attacked and struck them down. 49 9:44 Abimelech and his units 50 attacked and blocked 51 the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down. 9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled 52 the city and spread salt over it. 53
9:46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem 54 heard the news, they went to the stronghold 55 of the temple of El-Berith. 56 9:47 Abimelech heard 57 that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place. 58 9:48 He and all his men 59 went up on Mount Zalmon. He 60 took an ax 61 in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it 62 on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” 63 9:49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches 64 against the stronghold and set fire to it. 65 All the people 66 of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.
9:50 Abimelech moved on 67 to Thebez; he besieged and captured it. 68 9:51 There was a fortified 69 tower 70 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. 9:52 Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire, 9:53 a woman threw an upper millstone 71 down on his 72 head and shattered his skull. 9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, 73 “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, 74 ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died. 9:55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home. 75
9:56 God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half-brothers. 76 9:57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell 77 on them.