Judges 9:46-52

EasyEnglish Bible

⁴⁶ The city's leaders who lived in the tower of Shechem heard the news. They went to hide in the strong building of El-berith's temple. ⁴⁷ Somebody told Abimelech that all the leaders were there together in the temple. ⁴⁸ He took all his men up to Mount Zalmon. He used an axe to cut some branches off a tree. He put the branches on his shoulders. Then he said to his men, ‘Be quick! Do the same thing as you have seen me do!’ ⁴⁹ So all the men cut branches and they followed Abimelech. They put the branches around the strong building. Then they brought fire to burn down the building. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. They all died in the fire.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebez. They made their camp around the city to attack it. ⁵¹ There was a strong tower in the middle of the city. All the leaders of the city, as well as all the men and women, ran there to hide. They locked the door. They went up onto the roof of the tower. ⁵² Abimelech and his men came to attack the tower. Abimelech went near to the door of the tower, to put a fire there.