⁴ They gave him seventy shekels^[a] of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith,^(A) and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels,^(B) who became his followers.

³³ No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.^(A) They set up Baal-Berith^(B) as their god^(C)

⁵ But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.^(A) They rushed to Jason’s^(B) house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.^[a]

⁷ Some worthless scoundrels^(A) gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive^(B) and not strong enough to resist them.

³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,^(A) where a gang of scoundrels^(B) gathered around him and followed him.

² All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered^(A) around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

⁴⁶ On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple^(A) of El-Berith. ⁴⁷ When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, ⁴⁸ he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon.^(B) He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, “Quick! Do what you have seen me do!” ⁴⁹ So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.