15
And the bramble said to 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.
16
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 to him according to the deserving of his hands:
17
(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you from the hand of Midian:
18
And ye have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he [is] your brother:)
19
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:
20
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.
21
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22
When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
23
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
24
That the cruelty [done] to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem who aided him in the killing of his brethren.
25
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.