Judges 8:18-9:21

New King James Version

¹⁸And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at ^(A)Tabor?”

So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and ^(B)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ^(C)“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have ^(D)delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(E)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to ^[a]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, ^(F)because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷Then Gideon ^(G)made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, ^(H)Ophrah. And all Israel ^(I)played the harlot with it there. It became ^(J)a snare to Gideon and to his house.

²⁸Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. ^(K)And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹Then ^(L)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰Gideon had ^(M)seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹^(N)And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. ³²Now Gideon the son of Joash died ^(O)at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(P)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³So it was, ^(Q)as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again ^(R)played the harlot with the Baals, ^(S)and made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴Thus the children of Israel ^(T)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵^(U)nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

9 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to ^(V)his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ²“Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(W)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and ^(X)bone.”

³And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our ^(Y)brother.” ⁴So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of ^(Z)Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired ^(AA)worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. ⁵Then he went to his father’s house ^(AB)at Ophrah and ^(AC)killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. ⁶And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(AD)Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:

“Listen to me, you men of Shechem,
That God may listen to you!

⁸“The^(AE) trees once went forth to anoint a king over them.
And they said to the olive tree,
^(AF)‘Reign over us!’
⁹But the olive tree said to them,
‘Should I cease giving my oil,
^(AG)With which they honor God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹⁰“Then the trees said to the fig tree,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹¹But the fig tree said to them,
‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹²“Then the trees said to the vine,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹³But the vine said to them,
‘Should I cease my new wine,
^(AH)Which cheers both God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’

¹⁴“Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘You come and reign over us!’
¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees,
‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you,
Then come and take shelter in my ^(AI)shade;
But if not, ^(AJ)let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the ^(AK)cedars of Lebanon!’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him ^(AL)as^[b] he deserves— ¹⁷for my ^(AM)father fought for you, risked his life, and ^(AN)delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ¹⁸^(AO)but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his ^(AP)female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— ¹⁹if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(AQ)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, ^(AR)let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” ²¹And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to ^(AS)Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.