Judges 9:42 - Prayer Tents



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Judges 9
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Abimelech

9Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told themH40H1121H3378H3212H7927H517H251H1696H4940H1004H517H1H559
2to ask the men of Shechem, "Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood."H1696H241H1167H7927H2896H1121H3378H7657H376H4910H259H4910H2142H6106H1320
3His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative.H517H251H1696H241H1167H7927H1697H3820H5186H310H40H559H251
4They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him.H5414H7657H3701H1004H1170H40H7936H7386H6348H582H3212H310
5He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed.H935H1H1004H6084H2026H251H1121H3378H7657H376H259H68H3147H6996H1121H3378H3498H2244
6Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.H1167H7927H622H1004H4407H1037H3212H4427H40H4428H436H5324H7927
7When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you!H5046H3147H3212H5975H7218H2022H1630H5375H6963H7121H559H8085H1167H7927H430H8085
8Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.'H6086H1980H1980H4886H4428H559H2132H4427
9The olive tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.'H2132H559H2308H1880H3513H430H582H1980H5128H6086
10Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and be our king.'H6086H559H8384H3212H4427
11But the fig tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.'H8384H559H2308H4987H2896H8570H1980H5128H6086
12So the trees then said to the grapevine, 'You come and be our king.'H559H6086H1612H3212H4427
13But the vine answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.'H1612H559H2308H8492H8055H430H582H1980H5128H6086
14So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, 'You come and be our king.'H559H6086H329H3212H4427
15The thorn bush answered, 'If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'H329H559H6086H571H4886H4428H935H2620H6738H784H3318H329H398H730H3844
16"Now then," Jotham continued, "were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved?H6213H571H8549H40H4427H6213H2896H3378H1004H6213H1576H3027
17Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites.H1H3898H7993H5315H5048H5337H3027H4080
18But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons - seventy men on a single stone - and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem.H6965H1H1004H3117H2026H1121H7657H376H259H68H40H1121H519H4427H1167H7927H251
19Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you.H6213H571H8549H3378H1004H3117H8055H40H8055
20But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up."H784H3318H40H398H1167H7927H1004H4407H1037H784H3318H1167H7927H1004H4407H1037H398H40
21Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.H3147H1272H5127H3212H876H3427H6440H40H251
22Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.H40H7786H7969H8141H3478
23Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against Abimelech.H430H7971H7451H7307H40H1167H7927H1167H7927H898H40
24This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime.H2555H7657H1121H3378H935H1818H7760H40H251H2026H1167H7927H2388H3027H2026H251
25The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountaintops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this.H1167H7927H7760H693H7218H2022H1497H5674H1870H5046H40
26Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.H1603H1121H5651H935H251H5674H7927H1167H7927H982
27They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and made fun of Abimelech.H3318H7704H1219H3754H1869H6213H1974H935H1004H430H398H8354H7043H40
28Gaal said, "What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan!H1603H1121H5651H559H40H7927H5647H1121H3378H2083H6496H5647H582H2544H1H7927H5647
29I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would tell him, 'Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!' "H5971H5414H3027H5493H40H559H40H7235H6635H3318
30Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said.H2083H8269H5892H8085H1697H1603H1121H5651H639H2734
31He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city.H7971H4397H40H8649H559H1603H1121H5651H251H935H7927H6696H5892
32Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields.H6965H3915H5971H693H7704
33Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them with all you've got!"H1242H8121H2224H7925H6584H5892H5971H3318H6213H3027H4672
34So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups.H40H6965H5971H3915H693H7927H702H7218
35When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places.H1603H1121H5651H3318H5975H6607H8179H5892H40H6965H5971H3993
36Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, "Look! There are men coming down from the mountaintops!" "Those are not men," Zebul answered. "They are just shadows on the mountains."H1603H7200H5971H559H2083H3381H5971H3381H7218H2022H2083H559H7200H6738H2022H582
37Gaal said again, "Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortunetellers!"H1603H1696H3254H559H3381H5971H3381H2872H776H259H7218H935H436H1870H6049
38Then Zebul said to him, "Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were making fun of. Go on out now and fight them."H559H2083H645H6310H559H40H5647H5971H3988H3318H4994H3898
39Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech.H1603H3318H6440H1167H7927H3898H40
40Abimelech started after Gaal, and Gaal ran. Many were wounded, even at the city gate.H40H7291H5127H6440H7227H5307H2491H6607H8179
41Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.H40H3427H725H2083H1644H1603H251H3427H7927
42The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields,H4283H5971H3318H7704H5046H40
43so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them.H3947H5971H2673H7969H7218H693H7704H7200H5971H3318H5892H6965H5221
44While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all.H40H7218H6584H5975H6607H8179H5892H8147H7218H6584H7704H5221
45The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt.H40H3898H5892H3117H3920H5892H2026H5971H5422H5892H2232H4417
46When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant.H1167H4026H7927H8085H935H6877H1004H410H1286
47Abimelech was told that they had gathered there,H5046H40H1167H4026H7927H6908
48so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an ax, cut a limb off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to hurry and do the same thing.H40H5927H2022H6756H5971H40H3947H7134H3027H3772H7754H6086H5375H7760H7926H559H5971H7200H6213H4116H6213H3644
49So everyone cut off a tree limb; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died - about a thousand men and women.H5971H3772H376H7754H3212H310H40H7760H6877H3341H6877H784H582H4026H7927H4191H505H376H802
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it.H3212H40H8405H2583H8405H3920
51There was a strong tower there, and every man and woman in the city, including the leaders, ran to it. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof.H5797H4026H8432H5892H5127H582H802H1167H5892H5462H5927H1406H4026
52When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he went up to the door to set the tower on fire.H40H935H4026H3898H5066H6607H4026H8313H784
53But a woman threw a millstone down on his head and fractured his skull.H259H802H7993H6400H7393H40H7218H7533H1538
54Then he quickly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and told him, "Draw your sword and kill me. I don't want it said that a woman killed me." So the young man ran him through, and he died.H7121H4120H5288H5375H3627H559H8025H2719H4191H559H802H2026H5288H1856H4191
55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.H376H3478H7200H40H4191H3212H376H4725
56And so it was that God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.H430H7725H7451H40H6213H1H2026H7657H251
57God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.H7451H582H7927H430H7725H7218H935H7045H3147H1121H3378


Good News Translation. Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. More details.
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