Abimelech and his men killed the people of Shechem

22 Abimelech became the leader of all the people of Israel. He ruled them for three years. 23 Then God sent an evil spirit to cause trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, with the result that the leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech. 24 The leaders of Shechem had previously helped Abimelech to kill 69 of Gideon’s sons, who were his brothers. So now God sent the evil spirit to punish all of them. 25 The leaders of Shechem ◄set an ambush/sent men to hide► on the hilltops to ambush Abimelech. Those men robbed everyone who passed by. But someone told Abimelech about it, so he did not go near them.

26 There was a man named Gaal, the son of Ebed, who moved into Shechem city, along with his brothers. Soon the leaders of Shechem started to trust him. 27 They went out of the city to their vineyards and picked some grapes. They pressed the grapes to make juice, and then they made wine. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, and they ate a lot of food and drank a lot of wine. Then they cursed Abimelech. 28 Gaal said, “◄Why should we allow Abimelech to rule over us?/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us!► [RHQ] He is only one of Gideon’s sons so he really does not belong to us [RHQ]! And he appointed Zebul, the governor of our city, to be his deputy! We should ◄serve/be loyal to► one of the descendants of Hamor, the founder of our city, and let him be our leader, not Abimelech [RHQ]! 29 If you would appoint me to be your leader, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready, and then come to fight us!’”

30 When someone told Zebul what Gaal said, he was very angry. 31 He secretly sent some messengers to Abimelech. They told him, “Gaal and his brothers have come here to Shechem, and they are causing the people of the city to rebel against you. 32 You and your men should get up during the night and go and hide in the fields outside the city. 33 As soon as the sun rises in the morning, get up and attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight against you, you can do to them whatever you want to.”

34 So Abimelech and all the men who were with him got up during the night. They divided into four groups, and hid in the fields near Shechem. 35 The next morning, Gaal went out and stood at the entrance to the city gate. While he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places and started walking toward the city.

36 When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the hills!”

But Zebul said, “You are seeing only the shadows of trees on the hills. They are not people; they only resemble people.” 37 But Gaal looked again and said, “Look! There are people coming down from the top of the sacred mountain! There is a group of them coming down from where the tree is where people talk with the spirits of dead people!”

38 Zebul said to Gaal, “Now ◄what good is your bragging?/your bragging is worthless!► [MTY, RHQ] You said, ‘◄Why should we serve Abimelech/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us►?’ You made fun of these men. So now go out and fight them!”

39 So Gaal led the men of Shechem outside the city to fight Abimelech and his men. 40 Abimelech and his men pursued them, and they killed many of Gaal’s men before they could return safely inside the city gate. 41 Abimelech then stayed at Arumah, about five miles away from Shechem, and Zebul’s men forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.

42 The next day, the people of Shechem got ready to leave the city and work in their fields. When someone told Abimelech about that, 43 he divided his men into three groups, and told them to hide in the fields. So they did that. And when they saw the people coming out of the city, they jumped up and attacked them. 44 Abimelech and the men who were with him ran to the city gate. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and attacked them. 45 Abimelech and his men fought all day. They captured the city and killed all the people. They tore down all the buildings, and then they threw salt over the ruins in order that nothing would grow there again.