²⁷The people of Shechem went out into the fields. They gathered the grapes. They pressed the juice out of them by stomping on them. Then they held a feast in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they called down curses on Abimelech.

²⁸Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, spoke up. “Who is Abimelech?” he said. “And who is Shechem? Why should we be under Abimelech’s rule? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son? Isn’t Zebul his helper? It would be better to serve the men of Hamor. He was the father of Shechem. So why should we serve Abimelech? ²⁹I wish these people were under my command. Then I would get rid of him. I would say to him, ‘Call out your whole army!’ ”

³⁰Zebul was the governor of Shechem. He heard about what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said. So he burned with anger.

³¹Zebul sent messengers to Abimelech secretly. They said, “Gaal, the son of Ebed, has come to Shechem. His relatives have come with him. They are stirring up the city against you. ³²So come with your men during the night. Hide in the fields and wait. ³³In the morning at sunrise, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out against you. Then do what you can.”

³⁴So Abimelech and all of his troops started out at night. They went into their hiding places near Shechem. Abimelech had separated them into four companies.

³⁵Gaal, the son of Ebed, had already gone out. He was standing at the entrance of the city gate. He had arrived there just as Abimelech and his troops came out of their hiding places.

³⁶Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, “Look! People are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

Zebul replied, “You are wrong. Those aren’t people. They are just the shadows of the mountains.”

³⁷But Gaal spoke up again. He said, “Look! People are coming down from the center of the land. Another company is coming from the direction of the fortune tellers’ tree.”

³⁸Then Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your big talk now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech? Why should we be under his rule?’ Aren’t these the people you looked down on? Go out and fight against them!”

³⁹So Gaal led the citizens out of Shechem. They fought against Abimelech. ⁴⁰He chased Gaal from the field of battle. Many men were wounded as they ran away. Abimelech chased them all the way to the entrance of the city gate. ⁴¹He stayed in Arumah. Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem.

⁴²The next day the people of Shechem went out to work in the fields. Abimelech was told about it. ⁴³So he gathered his men together. He separated them into three companies. Then he hid them in the fields and told them to wait. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he got up to attack them.

⁴⁴Abimelech and the men who were with him ran forward. They placed themselves at the entrance of the city gate. Then the other two companies rushed over to the people who were in the fields. There they struck them down. ⁴⁵Abimelech kept up his attack against the city all day long. He didn’t stop until he had captured it. Then he killed its people. He destroyed the city. He scattered salt on it to make sure that nothing would be able to grow there.

⁴⁶The citizens who were in the tower of Shechem heard about what was happening. So they went to the safest place in the temple of the god El-Berith.

⁴⁷Abimelech heard that they had gathered together there. ⁴⁸He and all of his men went up Mount Zalmon. He got an ax and cut off some branches. He carried them on his shoulders. He ordered the men who were with him to do the same thing. “Quick!” he said. “Do what you have seen me do!”

⁴⁹So all of the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled them against the place where the people had gone for safety. Then they set the place on fire with the people inside. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. All of them died.

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