Judges 9:23-57

23 ^aAnd God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem ^bdealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24 ^cthat the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. 25And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.

26And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. 27And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into ^dthe house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. 28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, ^e“Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of ^fHamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say ▼

▼Septuagint; Hebrew and he said

to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”

30When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, ▼

▼Or at Tormah

saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up ▼

▼Hebrew besieging, or closing up

the city against you. 32Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. 33Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them ^jas your hand finds to do.”

34So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. 35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. 36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from ^kthe mountaintops!” And Zebul said to him, “You mistake ▼

▼Hebrew  You see

the shadow of the mountains for men.” 37Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.” 38Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ^m‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” 39And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. 40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. 41And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.

42On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told. 43He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them. 44Abimelech and the company that was with him ⁿrushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them. 45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and ^ohe razed the city and ^psowed it with salt.

46When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered ^qthe stronghold of the house of ^rEl-berith. 47Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48And Abimelech went up to Mount ^sZalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.” 49So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against ^tthe stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.

50Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. 51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. 52And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 ^uAnd a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. 54 ^vThen he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. 55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. 56 ^wThus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came ^xthe curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Judges 12:1-6

Jephthah’s Conflict with Ephraim

1 ^yThe men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3And when I saw that you would not save me, ^zI took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, ^aa“You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5And the Gileadites captured ^abthe fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at ^acthe fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

2 Samuel 20:1

The Rebellion of Sheba

1Now there happened to be there ^ada worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,

^ae“We have no portion in David,
and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
^afevery man to his tents, O Israel!”

2 Samuel 20:6

6And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take ^agyour lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.” ▼

▼Hebrew  and snatch away our eyes

1 Kings 12:16-20

The Kingdom Divided

16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^aiTo your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over ^ajthe people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18Then King Rehoboam sent ^akAdoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 ^alSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but ^amthe tribe of Judah only.

Isaiah 9:20-21

20 ^anThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
^aoeach devours the flesh of his own arm,
21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are ^apagainst Judah.
^aqFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 19:2-3

2And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
^arand they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound ▼

▼Or  I will swallow up

their ^atcounsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and ^authe mediums and the necromancers;