Parallel Bible results for "judges 9"

Judges 9

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

2 "Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem: `Which is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."

3 And his mother's brethren spoke of 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."

4 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light persons, who followed him.

5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone. Notwithstanding, yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Bethmillo, and went and made Abimelech king by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on 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.

8 The trees went forth once to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, `Reign thou over us.'

9 But the olive tree said unto them, `Should I leave my fatness, withwhich by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

10 And the trees said to the fig tree, `Come thou, and reign over us.'

11 But the fig tree said unto them, `Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

12 Then said the trees unto the vine, `Come thou, and reign over us.'

13 And the vine said unto them, `Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, `Come thou, and reign over us.'

15 And the bramble said unto 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 unto him according to the deserving of his hands

17 (for my father fought for you, and ventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian;

18 and ye have risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, 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 Bethmillo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Bethmillo, 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 threescore and ten 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 liersinwait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them; and it was told Abimelech.

26 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.

27 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 god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. For why should we serve him?

29 And would to God this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech." And he said to Abimelech, "Increase thine army, and come out!"

30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren have come to Shechem; and behold, they fortify the city against thee.

32 Now therefore, up by night, thou and the people who are with thee, and lie in wait in the field.

33 And it shall be that 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 who are with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion."

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

35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from lying in wait.

36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains." And Zebul said unto him, "Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men."

37 And Gaal spoke again and said, "See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim."

38 Then said Zebul unto him, "Where now is thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, `Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Are not these the people whom thou hast despised? Go out, I pray now, and fight with them."

39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.

40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entrance of the gate.

41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

42 And it came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.

43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field, and looked, and behold, the people had come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them.

44 And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two other companies ran upon all the people who were in the fields and slew them.

45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people who were therein, and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.

46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into a stronghold of the house of the god Berith.

47 And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

48 And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax 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 who were with him, "What ye have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done."

49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough and followed Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire upon them, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez and took it.

51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women and all those of the city, and shut it to them and went up to the top of the tower.

52 And Abimelech came unto the tower and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head and broke his skull.

54 Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armorbearer, and said unto him, "Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, `A woman slew him.'" And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father in slaying his seventy brethren.

57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal [Gideon], went to Shechem to see the uncles on his mother's side of the family. He spoke to them and his mother's whole family.

2 He said, "Please ask all citizens of Shechem, 'What seems best to you? Do you really want all of Jerubbaal's 70 sons to rule you or just one man? Remember, I'm your own flesh and blood.'"

3 His uncles repeated everything he said to all citizens of Shechem. They were persuaded to follow Abimelech because he was their relative.

4 So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal Berith. With the silver, Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men to follow him.

5 Then he went to his father's home in Ophrah. There he executed his 70 brothers, Jerubbaal's sons. But Jotham, Jerubbaal's youngest son, survived because he hid.

6 All the citizens from Shechem and Beth Millo united. They went to the oak tree that was still standing in Shechem and proclaimed Abimelech king.

7 When Jotham was told about this, he went to a high spot on Mount Gerizim. He shouted to them, "Listen to me, you citizens of Shechem, so that God might listen to you.

8 "The trees went to anoint someone to be king over them. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king!'

9 But the olive tree responded, 'Should I stop producing oil, which people use to honor gods and humans, in order to rule the trees?'

10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and be our king!'

11 But the fig tree responded, 'Should I stop producing my good, sweet fruit in order to rule the trees?'

12 Then the trees said to the grapevine, 'You come and be our king!'

13 But the grapevine responded, 'Should I stop producing my wine, which makes gods and humans happy, in order to rule the trees?'

14 Then all the trees said to the thornbush, 'You come and be our king!'

15 But the thornbush responded to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me to be your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, fire will come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'

16 "If you acted with sincerity and integrity when you made Abimelech king, [be happy.] If you treated Jerubbaal and his family well, if you treated him as he deserved, be happy.

17 My father fought for you. He risked his life and rescued you from Midian.

18 But today you have attacked my father's family. You have executed his 70 sons. You have made Abimelech, who is the son of my father's slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem just because he's your brother.

19 So if you are now acting with sincerity and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his family, then be happy with Abimelech and let Abimelech be happy with you.

20 But if that's not the case, let fire come out of Abimelech and burn up citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo. Also let fire come out of citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech."

21 Then Jotham ran away quickly. He went to Beerah and lived there [to avoid] his brother Abimelech.

22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.

23 Then God sent an evil spirit to cause problems between Abimelech and citizens of Shechem. So citizens of Shechem turned against Abimelech.

24 God did this so that the bloody violence committed against Jerubbaal's 70 sons would happen to Abimelech and citizens of Shechem. Citizens of Shechem had helped Abimelech execute his brothers.

25 So citizens of Shechem set ambushes for Abimelech on top of the mountains. They also robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. This was reported to Abimelech.

26 Then Gaal (son of Ebed) and his brothers moved into Shechem. Citizens of Shechem trusted him.

27 They went into the country and harvested grapes in the vineyards to make wine. Then they made an offering of praise in the temple of their gods. They ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

28 Gaal (son of Ebed) said, "Who's Abimelech, and who are we, the people of Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he Jerubbaal's son, and isn't Zebul his officer? Serve the descendants of Hamor, Shechem's father! Why should we serve Abimelech?

29 How I wish I controlled these people! Then I'd get rid of Abimelech. I would tell him, 'Get yourself a big army and come out.'"

30 Zebul, Shechem's ruler, heard what Gaal (son of Ebed) had said, and he became angry.

31 He secretly sent messengers to Abimelech. "Watch out! Gaal (son of Ebed) and his brothers have come to Shechem. They have turned the city against you.

32 You and your men must start out tonight. Set an ambush [for them] in the fields [around Shechem].

33 In the morning, when the sun rises, get up quickly and raid the city. When Gaal and his men come out to attack you, do whatever you want to him."

34 Abimelech and all his troops started out at night. He used four companies to set ambushes around Shechem.

35 Gaal (son of Ebed) went out and stood at the entrance to the city. Then Abimelech and his troops rose from their ambush.

36 When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, "Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!" Zebul replied, "The shadows of the mountains look like men to you."

37 Gaal spoke again, "No, there are troops coming down from Tabbur Haares. One company is coming along the road by the Fortunetellers' Tree."

38 Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your big mouth now? You were the one who said, 'Who's Abimelech that we should serve him?' Aren't these the troops [whose ruler] you despised? Now go out and fight him."

39 Then Gaal led citizens of Shechem out to fight Abimelech.

40 Abimelech chased Gaal so that he ran away from him. Many were killed at the entrance of the city.

41 Abimelech continued to live at Arumah. Zebul threw Gaal and his brothers out and would not let them live in Shechem.

42 The next day the people [of Shechem] went into the fields. Abimelech was told about it.

43 So he took his troops, divided them into three companies, and set an ambush in the fields. He watched and saw the people coming out of the city. Then he began to attack them.

44 Abimelech and his company charged the city and captured its entrance. The other two companies charged at everyone in the fields and attacked them.

45 Abimelech attacked the city all day long. He captured the city and killed the people in it. He also tore down the city and scattered salt all over the land.

46 All the citizens of Shechem's Tower heard about it and went into the basement of the temple of El Berith.

47 When Abimelech was told that they had gathered there,

48 he and all his men went to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took an ax, cut some brushwood, and carried it on his shoulder. He told his men, "Hurry and do what you've seen me do!"

49 So all his troops also cut brushwood and followed Abimelech. They piled the brushwood on top of the basement and set it on fire with the people inside. So all the people in Shechem's Tower died too. There were about a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped there, and captured it.

51 Now, there was a strong tower inside the town. All the men, women, and leaders of the town fled to it. They locked the door behind them and went up on the roof of the tower.

52 Abimelech came to the tower. He began to fight against it and went near the entrance of the tower to burn it down.

53 Then a woman threw a small millstone that hit Abimelech on the head and cracked his skull.

54 He quickly called his armorbearer. He told him, "Take your sword and kill me! I don't want anyone to say, 'A woman killed Abimelech.'" His armorbearer did as he said, so Abimelech died.

55 When the people of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

56 So God paid back Abimelech for the evil he had done to his father when he killed his 70 brothers.

57 God also paid back the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham, son of Jerubbaal, came true.