Judges 9:1-15 ▼

1 And Abimelech son of Jerubba‘al goes to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and speaks to them, and to all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

2 “Now speak in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, Which [is] good for you—seventy men ruling over you (all the sons of Jerubba‘al), or one man ruling over you? And you have remembered that I [am] your bone and your flesh.”

3 And his mother’s brothers speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclines after Abimelech, for they said, “He [is] our brother”;

4 and they give seventy [pieces] of silver out of the house of Ba‘al-Berith to him, and Abimelech hires vain and unstable men with them, and they go after him;

5 and he goes into the house of his father at Ophrah, and slays his brothers, sons of Jerubba‘al, seventy men, on one stone; and Jotham, youngest son of Jerubba‘al, is left, for he was hidden.

6 And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which [is] in Shechem;

7 and they declare [it] to Jotham, and he goes and stands on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifts up his voice, and calls, and says to them, “Listen to me, O masters of Shechem, and God listens to you:

8 The trees have diligently gone to anoint a king over them, and they say to the olive, Reign over us.

9 And the olive says to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honor gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

10 And the trees say to the fig, Come, reign over us.

11 And the fig says to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

12 And the trees say to the vine, Come, reign over us.

13 And the vine says to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is making gods and men glad, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

14 And all the trees say to the bramble, Come, reign over us.

15 And the bramble says to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not—fire comes out from the bramble, and devours the cedars of Lebanon.