The Koine Bible

And Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to the brothers of his mother, and he spoke to them and to all the kin of the house of his mother, saying:

Speak now, please, in the ears of the men of Shechem: Which is better, the ruling over you of seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, or one man ruling over you? And remember that I am your flesh and your bone.

And his mother’s brothers spoke about him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their heart inclined after Abimelech, because they said, He is our brother.

And they gave him seventy of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and they went after him

And he went into his father’s house in Ephratha and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men on one stone, and Jotham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, was left because he hid himself.

And all the men of Shechem were gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar in Shechem

And they reported it to Jotham, and he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and he lifted up his voice and called and said to them, Hear me, men of Shechem, and may God hear you.

The trees went out to anoint a king for themselves, and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us.

And the olive tree said to them, Leaving my fatness, by which God and men are honored in me, shall I go to rule over the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come, reign over us.

And the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go to rule over the trees?

And the trees said to the vine, Come, reign over us.

And the vine said to them, Leaving my wine, the gladness of God and of men, shall I go to rule over the trees?

And the trees said to the bramble, Come, you reign over us.

And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come, trust in my shade; and if not, let fire come out from the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

And now, if in truth and in integrity you acted and made Abimelech king, and if you acted well with Jerubbaal and with his house, and if according to the recompense of his hand you have acted to him

as my father fought for you and threw his life away from before and rescued you from the hand of Midian

and you have risen up against my father’s house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech king, the son of his maidservant, over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother

And if in truth and in completeness you have done with Jerobaal and his house on this day, may you be blessed, and may you rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.

and if fire should not go out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and if fire should not go out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and consume Abimelech

And Jotham ran away and went on the way and fled to Aram and dwelt there from before Abimelech his brother

And Abimelech began to reign over Israel three years.

And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and between the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously in the house of Abimelech.

to bring the wrong of the seventy sons of Jerobaal and to lay their blood on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands so as to kill his brothers

And the men of Shechem set ambushes for him on the heads of the mountains, and they were seizing all who were passing by them on the way, and it was reported to Abimelech.

And Gaal son of Abed came, and his brothers, into Shechem, and the men of Shechem trusted in him.

And they came into the field and gathered in their vineyards and trod them and made songs and entered into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech

And Gaal son of Ebed said, What is Abimelech, and who is the son of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not this the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his overseer, his servant, with the men of Hamor father of Shechem? And why that we should serve him, we?

And who would give this people into my hand? Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would say to Abimelech, Increase your power and come out.

And Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Abed, and he was angered with wrath.

And he sent messengers to Abimelech with gifts, saying, Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and these are besieging the city against you.

And now rise by night, you and the people with you, and lie in ambush in the field.

And it shall be in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, that you shall rise early and spread out against the city; and behold, he and the people with him are coming out toward you, and you shall do to him as your hand finds to do

And Abimelech rose up, and all the people with him, by night, and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies

And it came to pass in the morning, and Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambushes

And Gaal son of Ebed saw the people and said to Zebul, Behold, people coming down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if men.

And Gaal continued still to speak and said, Behold, people coming down by the sea from the part next to the navel of the land, and one company is coming from the way of the oak of the watchers.

And Zebul said to him, Where is now your mouth, the one saying, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight against him.

And Gaal went out from before the men of Shechem and fought against Abimelech

And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from before him, and many wounded fell as far as the gates of the city.

And Abimelech dwelt in Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they might not dwell in Shechem.

And it happened on the next day, and the people went out into the plain, and it was reported to Abimelech

And he took the people and divided them into three companies and lay in ambush in it, and saw, and behold, people came out from the city, and he rose up against them and struck them

And Abimelech and the chiefs with him spread out and stood beside the gate of the city, and the two chiefs rushed upon all those in the field, and he struck them down

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and they captured the city, and he killed the people who were in it, and he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

And all the men of the tower of Shechem heard, and they entered into the stronghold of the house of Baal-berith.

And it was reported to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem had gathered together.

And Abimelech went up to Mount Selmon, he and all the people with him, and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a load of wood and took it and put it on his shoulders and said to the people with him, What you have seen me doing, do quickly as I also have done.

And they also cut down, each one his burden, and they carried it and went after Abimelech and they laid it against the stronghold and they set the stronghold on fire against them, and all the men of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.

And Abimelech went to Thebez and camped against it and took it beforehand.

And there was a strong tower in the midst of the city, and all the men and the women and all the leaders of the city fled there, and they shut themselves in, and they went up onto the roof of the tower

And Abimelech came as far as the tower, and they fought against him, and Abimelech approached as far as the door of the tower to burn it with fire

And one woman threw down a millstone fragment on Abimelech’s head, and it shattered his skull.

And he called out quickly to the young man bearing his weapons and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say, A woman killed him; and the young man thrust him through, and Abimelech died.

And a man of Israel saw that Abimelech had died, and every man went to his place.

And God turned back the evil of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers.

And all the evil of the men of Shechem God turned back upon their head, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.