World English Bible · The judges
Judges 9
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the son of went to to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's , saying, "Please speak in the ears of all the men of , 'Is it better for you that all the sons of , who are seventy persons, you, or that one you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your ." His mother's brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of all these words. Their inclined to follow ; for they said, "He is our brother." They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Berith, with which hired and reckless fellows who followed him. He went to his house at , and killed his brothers the sons of , being seventy persons, on one stone; but the youngest son of was left, for he hid himself. All the men of assembled themselves together with all the house of , and went and made king by the oak of that was in . When they told it to , he went and stood on the top of and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of , that may listen to you. The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' "But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I stop producing my oil, with which they and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?' 10"The trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and reign over us.' "But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?' 12"The trees said to , 'Come and reign over us.' " said to them, 'Should I leave my , which cheers and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?' "Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come and reign over us.' "The bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of .' "Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made king, and if you have dealt well with and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands (for fought for you, risked his life, and you out of the hand of ; and you have up against house today and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made , the son of his female servant, king over the men of , because he is your brother); if you then have dealt truly and righteously with and with his house today, then rejoice in , and let him also rejoice in you; but if not, let come out from and devour the men of and the house of ; and let come out from the men of and from the house of and devour ." ran away and fled, and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of his brother. 22 was prince over Israel three years. Then sent an between and the men of ; and the men of dealt treacherously with , that the done to the seventy sons of might come, and that their might be laid on their brother who killed them, and on the men of who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. The men of set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them; and was told about it. Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to ; and the men of put their in him. They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their and ate and drank, and . Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is , and who is , that we should him? Isn't he the son of ? Isn't Zebul his officer? the men of of , but why should we him? I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove ." He said to , "Increase your army and come out!" 30When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his burned. 31He sent to craftily, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to ; and behold, they incite the city against you. Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion." 34 rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against in four companies. 35Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the . rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." Zebul said to him, "You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men." Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by of the oak of Meonenim." Then Zebul said to him, "Now where is your , that you said, 'Who is , that we should him?' Isn't this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them." 39Gaal went out before the men of , and fought with . chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, even to the entrance of the . lived at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not in . 42On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told . 43He took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them and struck them. and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the ; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them. fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with salt. When all the men of the tower of heard of it, they entered into the of the house of Elberith. 47 was told that all the men of the tower of were gathered together. went up to Mount , he and all the people who were with him; and took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, "What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!" All the people likewise each cut down his bough, followed , and put them at the base of the , and set the on over them, so that all the people of the tower of also, about a thousand men and women. 50Then went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with . A certain woman cast an upper millstone on head, and broke his skull. Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your and kill me, that men not say of me, 'A woman killed him.' His young man thrust him through, and he ." When the men of Israel saw that was , they each departed to his place. Thus repaid the wickedness of , which he did to his in killing his seventy brothers; and repaid all the wickedness of the men of on their heads; and the of the son of came on them.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.