Judges 9:30-57

30Some people told Zebul, the town's officer, what Gaal had said. Zebul was very angry when he heard this.

31He sent men secretly to Abimelech with a message. They told him, ‘Ebed's son Gaal and his brothers have come to live in Shechem. They are causing the people of the city to turn against you.

32So you must come here in the night with your men. Hide in the fields outside the city.

33When the sun rises in the morning, quickly attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight, you can do to them whatever you want.’

34So Abimelech and all his soldiers came out at night. They hid in four groups outside Shechem.

35The next morning, Gaal stood beside the city gate. Abimelech and his men came out from the places where they were hiding.

36Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, ‘Look! There are men coming down from the tops of the hills.’ Zebul replied, ‘No, you are wrong. You can see shadows in the hills. They only look like men.’

37Gaal said again, ‘Look! I can really see men who are coming down from the middle of the land. There is another group of men who are coming along the road from the Diviner's Oak Tree.’

38Then Zebul said to Gaal, ‘What has happened to your proud words now? You boasted when you said, “Abimelech is nobody! We should not serve him.” Here are the men that you insulted as useless! So now go out and fight them!’

39Gaal led the men of Shechem out of the city to fight against Abimelech.

40Abimelech chased after him. Gaal and his men ran back to the city. But Abimelech and his men caught and killed many of them before they reached the city gate.

41Abimelech went back to live in Arumah. Zebul made Gaal and his brothers leave Shechem.

42The next day, the people of Shechem went out into the fields around the city. Abimelech heard about this.

43He took his men with him. He made them hide in three groups in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men attacked them.

44Abimelech and his group of soldiers ran to stand at the city gate. They stopped people going back into the city. The other two groups attacked the people in the fields and killed them.

45Abimelech attacked the city all that day. He took the city and he killed all the people who lived there. Then he destroyed the city. He put salt all over it as a curse.

46The city's leaders who lived in the tower of Shechem heard the news. They went to hide in the strong building of El-berith's temple.

47Somebody told Abimelech that all the leaders were there together in the temple.

48He took all his men up to Mount Zalmon. He used an axe to cut some branches off a tree. He put the branches on his shoulders. Then he said to his men, ‘Be quick! Do the same thing as you have seen me do!’

49So all the men cut branches and they followed Abimelech. They put the branches around the strong building. Then they brought fire to burn down the building. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. They all died in the fire.

50Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebez. They made their camp around the city to attack it.

51There was a strong tower in the middle of the city. All the leaders of the city, as well as all the men and women, ran there to hide. They locked the door. They went up onto the roof of the tower.

52Abimelech and his men came to attack the tower. Abimelech went near to the door of the tower, to put a fire there.

53A woman on the roof dropped a heavy rock down on his head. It broke Abimelech's skull.

54Abimelech quickly said to the young man who carried his weapons, ‘Take hold of your sword and kill me! I do not want people to say that a woman killed me!’ So the young man killed him with his sword.

55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.

56That was how God punished Abimelech. He had done an evil thing against his father when he killed his 70 brothers.

57God was also punishing the people of Shechem for the evil things that they had done. When Gideon's son Jotham had cursed them, he said that these things would happen.