HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 597
JUDG ES 10
page 227
31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah,*
telling him, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers
have come to live in Shechem, and now they are
inciting the city to rebel against you. 32 Come by
night with an army and hide out in the fields.
33 In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack
the city. When Gaal and those who are with him
come out against you, you can do with them as
you wish.”
34 So Abimelech and all his men went by night
and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem. 35 Gaal was standing
at the city gates when Abimelech and his army
came out of hiding. 36 When Gaal saw them, he
said to Zebul, “Look, there are people coming
down from the hilltops!”
Zebul replied, “It’s just the shadows on the
hills that look like men.”
37 But again Gaal said, “No, people are coming down from the hills.* And another group is
coming down the road past the Diviners’ Oak.*”
38 Then Zebul turned on him and asked, “Now
where is that big mouth of yours? Wasn’t it you
that said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should
we be his servants?’ The men you mocked are
right outside the city! Go out and fight them!”
39 So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem
into battle against Abimelech. 40 But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men
were wounded and fell along the road as they
retreated to the city gate. 41 Abimelech returned
to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
42 The next day the people of Shechem went
out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech
heard about it, 43 he divided his men into three
groups and set an ambush in the fields. When
Abimelech saw the people coming out of the
city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them. 44 Abimelech and
his group stormed the city gate to keep the men
of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in
the fields. 45 The battle went on all day before
Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed
the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt
all over the ground.
46 When the leading citizens who lived in the
tower of Shechem heard what had happened,
they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith.*
47 Someone reported to Abimelech that the
citizens had gathered in the temple, 48 so he
led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax
and chopped some branches from a tree, then
put them on his shoulder. “Quick, do as I have
done!” he told his men. 49 So each of them cut
down some branches, following Abimelech’s
9:31 Or in secret; Hebrew reads in Tormah; compare 9:41.
9:37a Or the center of the land. 9:37b Hebrew Elon-meonenim.
9:46 Hebrew El-berith, another name for Baal-berith; compare 9:4.
10:4 Hebrew Havvoth-jair.
example. They piled the branches against the
walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all
the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it. 51 But there was a strong
tower inside the town, and all the men and
women—the entire population—fled to it. They
barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the
roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech followed them to
attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to
the entrance, 53 a woman on the roof dropped a
millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and
crushed his skull.
54 He quickly said to his young armor bearer,
“Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be
said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the
young man ran him through with his sword,
and he died. 55 When Abimelech’s men saw that
he was dead, they disbanded and returned to
their homes.
56 In this way, God punished Abimelech for
the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So
the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.
Tola Becomes Israel’s Judge
After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah,
son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but
lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country
of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel for twenty-three
years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.
10
Jair Becomes Israel’s Judge
3 After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. 4 His thirty sons rode
around on thirty donkeys, and they owned
thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are
still called the Towns of Jair.* 5 When Jair died,
he was buried in Kamon.
The Ammonites Oppress Israel
6 Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight.
They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth,
and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon,
and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no
longer served him at all. 7 So the Lord burned
with anger against Israel, and he turned them
over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who
began to oppress them that year. For eighteen
years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the
Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that
is, in Gilead). 9 The Ammonites also crossed to
the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah,
Benjamin, and Ephraim.
The Israelites were in great distress. 10 Finally,
they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We
have sinned against you because we have
abandoned you as our God and have served the
images of Baal.”