to them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me
they honour God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And
the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the
fig tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit,
and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the trees said unto the
vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should
I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro
over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and
reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye
anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and
if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of
Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye
have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and
his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his
hands;--for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my
father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten
persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his
maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your
brother;--if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and
with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also
rejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour
the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from
the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for
fear of Abimelech his brother.

And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. And God sent an evil
spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem
dealt treacherously with Abimelech: that the violence done to the
threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood
might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them, and upon
the men of Shechem, which strengthened his hands to slay his brethren.
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the tops of the
mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it
was told Abimelech.

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to
Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their trust in