The Judges & Ruth

And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak that stood in Sichem.

This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of Mount Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you.

The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive tree: Reign thou over us.

And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?

And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men, and be promoted among the other trees?

And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come ye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.

Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal, and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of him who fought for you,

And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of Madian,

And you are now risen up against my father's house, and have killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because he is your brother:

If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with Jerobaal and his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he rejoice in you.

But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech.

And when he had said thus, he fled, and went into Bera: and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother.

So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years.

And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him,

And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided him.

And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains: and while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking spoils of all that passed by: and it was told Abimelech.

And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went over to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming,

Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading down the grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple of their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.

And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and hath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of Sichem? Why then shall we serve him?

Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand, that I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.

For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the son of Obed, was very angry,