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 to 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 to the bramble, 'Come thou, and reign over us.' And
the bramble {334} said to 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 to 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 maid-servant,
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, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

THE FATE OF ABIMELECH.

_After Several Years of Uneasy Rule Abimelech Met His Fate
at the Hands of His Enemies_.

And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem
were gathered together. And Abimelech went up to mount Zalmon, he and
all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his
hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it
on his shoulder: and he said to the people that were with him, "What
ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done."

{335}{336}

[Illustration]
SHECHEM

In the time of the Judges, Shechem was known as the City of
Abimelech. The people of the town first made him king and then
revolted against him. Afterward he captured the city and utterly
destroyed it
[End illustration]

{337}

And all