¹Abimelech went to the son of Jerub at Shechem, to the brother of his mother, and spoke to them and to all the family of the house of the father of his mother, saying:

²Speak in the ear of all the lord of Shechem: what is good to you? That seventies of men rule in you, all the children of Jerub, or that one man rule in you? Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.

³The brother of his mother spoke over him in the ear of all the lord of Shechem all these words, and their heart stretched out after Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

⁴They set seventies of silver to it from the house of Baal-berith, and in them Abimelech hired empty men who shuddered, and they went after him.

⁵He went to the house of his father at Ophrah and killed his brother, the children of Jerub, seventies of men over one stone; and Jotham, the young of the son of Jerub, remained, for he hid.

⁶All the lord of Shechem gathered, and all Beth Millo, and they went and made king Abimelech to king, by the station with the oak which is in Shechem.

⁷They told it to Jotham, and he went and stood in the head of the mountain of Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and called, and said to them: Listen to me, the lord of Shechem, and God will listen to you.

⁸Surely the trees went to anoint a king over them, and said to the olive, Reign over us.

⁹But the olive said to them, Have I ceased my ashes, which in me God and men honor, that I should go to shake over the trees?

¹⁰The trees said to the fig, Go you, reign over us.

¹¹But the fig said to them, Have I ceased my sweetness and my good fruit, that I should go to shake over the trees?

¹²The trees said to the vine, Go you, reign over us.

¹³But the vine said to them, Have I ceased my new which rejoices God and men, that I should go to shake over the trees?

¹⁴All the trees said to the thorn bush, Go you, reign over us.

¹⁵And the thorn bush said to the trees, If in stability you anointed me to king over you, come, make refuge in my under; and if there is not, fire will go forth from the thorn bush, and she will eat the cedar of the Lebanon.

¹⁶And now, if in stability and in blameless you made when you reigned Abimelech, and good you made with Jerub and with his house, and as the deserving of his hands you made to him —

¹⁷which my father fought over you, and threw his living being from before, and delivered you from the hand of Midian;

¹⁸and you rose against the house of my father this day, and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and made Abimelech king, the son of his maid-servant, over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother —

¹⁹if in stability and in blameless you made with Jerub and with his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and he also will rejoice in you;

²⁰and if there is not, fire will go forth from Abimelech, and she will eat the lord of Shechem and Beth Millo, and fire will go forth from the lord of Shechem and from Beth Millo, and she will eat Abimelech.

²¹And Jotham fled and fled, and went to Beer and dwelled there, from the face of Abimelech his brother.

²²Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.

²³And God sent an evil breath between Abimelech and between the lord of Shechem, and the lord of Shechem betrayed in Abimelech;

²⁴so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood be put on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

²⁵Shechem put to him the lord of those who lay wait over the head of the mountains, and they seized all who will pass over them in the way; and he told it to Abimelech.

²⁶And Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brother came and passed over in Shechem, and the covenant trusted in him.

²⁷They went forth to the field and fortified their vineyard, and rose and made praises, and went to the house of their God, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said: Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we will serve it? Is it not the son of Jerub, and Zebul his overseer? Serve the men of Chamor the father of Shechem; and why will we serve it, we?

²⁹And who will give this people in my hand, that I removed Abimelech? And he said to Abimelech: Multiply your host, and go forth.

³⁰And Zebul the official of the city heard the word of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger burned.

³¹And he sent messengers to Abimelech in the secretly, saying: Gaal the son of Ebed and his brother came to Shechem, and they are shutting up the city over you.

³²And now rise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lay wait in the field.

³³And it was in the morning, as the sun dawned, you will rise early and strip off over the city; and he and the people who are with him went forth to you, and you made to him as your hand will find.

³⁴And Abimelech rose, and all the people who are with him, by night, and lay wait over Shechem in four heads.

³⁵And Gaal the son of Ebed went forth and stood at the door of the gate of the city; and Abimelech rose, and the people who are in him, from the lie in ambush.

³⁶And Gaal saw the people, and said to Zebul: people came down from the head of the mountains. And Zebul said to him: The under of the mountains you saw as men.

³⁷And Gaal repeated again to speak, and said: people came down from with the navel of the land, and one head came from the way of the oak of brought.

³⁸And Zebul said to him: Where is your mouth, which you will say, Who is Abimelech, that we will serve it? Is this not the people whom you rejected in it? Go forth now, and fight in it.

³⁹And Gaal went forth to the face of the lord of Shechem, and fought in Abimelech.

⁴⁰And Abimelech ran after it, and he fled from his face; and great slain fell to the door of the gate.

⁴¹And Abimelech dwelled in Arumah; and Zebul drove Gaal and his brother from dwelling in Shechem.

⁴²And there was from the next day, the people went forth to the field; and they told it to Abimelech.

⁴³And he took the people and divided them to three heads, and lay wait in the field; and he saw, the people went forth from the city, and he rose over them and struck them.

⁴⁴And Abimelech, and the heads which is with him, stripped off and stood at the door of the gate of the city; and the two of the heads stripped off over all which is in the field, and struck them.

⁴⁵And Abimelech fought in the city all that day, and he captured the city, and killed the people who are in it; and he pulled down the city, and bore it salt.

⁴⁶All the lord of the tower of Shechem heard, and went to the stronghold of the house of El- Berith.

⁴⁷And it was told to Abimelech that all the lord of the tower of Shechem gathered together.

⁴⁸And Abimelech came up to the mountain of Zalmon, he and all the people who are with it; and Abimelech took the axes in his hand, and cut the bough of the woods, and lifted it up over his shoulder, and said to the people who are with him: What you saw I made, make liquid in me.

⁴⁹And also all the people, each man his bough, cut, and went after Abimelech, and put over the stronghold, and set fire over them, over the stronghold, in the fire; and also all the men of the tower of Shechem died, as the thousand, man and woman.

⁵⁰And Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped in Thebez, and captured it.

⁵¹And a tower of strength was in the middle of the city, and all the men and the women and all the lord of the city fled there, and closed up behind them, and came up over the top of the tower.

⁵²And Abimelech came in to the tower, and fought in it, and was at the door of the tower, to burn it in the fire.

⁵³And one woman threw a millstone of the chariot over the head of Abimelech, and struggled his head.

⁵⁴And quickly he called to the boy who carried his armor, and said to him: Draw your sword, and you die me, that a woman will not say to me, She killed it. And his boy struck through it, and he died.

⁵⁵And the man of Israel saw that Abimelech died, and each man went to his place.

⁵⁶And God returned the evil of Abimelech which he made to his father, to kill his seventies brother.

⁵⁷And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned in their head; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerub came to them.