Judges 9:1-21

Complete Jewish Bible

9 Avimelekh the son of Yeruba‘al went to Sh’khem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with the whole clan of his maternal grandfather. He said, ² “Please ask all the men of Sh’khem, ‘Which is better for you — that all seventy sons of Yeruba‘al rule over you, or that one person rule over you? And remember that I am your blood relative.’” ³ His mother’s brothers spoke to all the men of Sh’khem and said all this about him, so that they followed their feelings and supported Avimelekh, arguing, “After all, he’s our brother.” ⁴ They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Ba‘al-B’rit; and he used these to pay good-for-nothing thugs to follow him. ⁵ He went back to his father’s house in ‘Ofrah and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba‘al, all seventy of them, on a single rock, except for Yotam Yeruba‘al’s youngest son, who stayed alive because he hid himself.

⁶ All the men of Sh’khem and all Beit-Millo got together and went and made Avimelekh king at the oak by the cult-pillar in Sh’khem. ⁷ When they told this to Yotam, he went and stood on top of Mount G’rizim and shouted, “Listen to me, you leaders of Sh’khem; then God will listen to you! ⁸ Once the trees went out to choose a king to rule them. They said to the olive tree, ‘Rule over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my oil, which is used to honor both God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my sweetness and my good fruit just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹³ But the grapevine replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my wine, which gives cheer to God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Finally, all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹⁵ The thorn bush replied, ‘If you really make me king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thorn bush and burn down the cedars of the L’vanon!’

¹⁶ “Here’s the point. Have you been honest and straightforward in making Avimelekh king? Have you been fair with Yeruba‘al and his household and treated him as he deserves? ¹⁷ My father fought on your behalf, risking his life, and rescued you from the power of Midyan; ¹⁸ and now you are rebelling against my father’s household. You’ve killed his seventy sons on a single stone and made Avimelekh, the son of his slave-girl, king over the men of Sh’khem, because he’s your brother. ¹⁹ I say this: if you are dealing honestly and righteously with Yeruba‘al and his household today, then may you enjoy Avimelekh and may he enjoy you! ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh and burn up the men of Sh’khem and Beit-Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Sh’khem and Beit-Millo and burn up Avimelekh!” ²¹ Then Yotam fled, making his way to Be’er, and he lived there for fear of Avimelekh his brother.