Study Desk

So now you and your men should come tonight and hide in the fields outside the city.

So Abimelech and all his soldiers got up during the night and went to the city. The soldiers separated into four groups. They hid near the city of Shechem.

So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out to fight Abimelech.

So Abimelech separated his men into three groups. He wanted to attack the people of Shechem by surprise. So he hid his men in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he jumped up and attacked them.

So Abimelech and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took an ax and cut off some branches and carried them on his shoulders. Then Abimelech said to the men with him, "Hurry! Do the same thing that I have done."

So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled the branches against the safest room of the temple of the god El Berith. Then they set the branches on fire and burned the people in the room. About 1000 men and women living near the Tower of Shechem died.

But inside the city there was a strong tower, so all the leaders and other men and women of that city ran to the tower. When the people were inside the tower, they locked the door behind them. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower.

Abimelech quickly said to the servant who carried his weapons, "Take out your sword and kill me. I want you to kill me so that people will not say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.'" So the servant stabbed Abimelech with his sword, and he died.

The Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, so they all went back home.

God also punished the men of the city of Shechem for the bad things they had done. So the things said by Jotham son of Gideon came true.

So the Lord became angry with the Israelites and allowed the Philistines and the Ammonites to defeat them.

So the Israelites cried to the Lord for help. They said, "God, we have sinned against you. We left our God and worshiped the false god Baal."

But you left me and started worshiping other gods, so I refuse to save you again.

You like worshiping those gods, so go call to them for help. Let them save you when you are in trouble."

Then the Israelites threw away the foreign gods and began to worship the Lord again. So he felt sorry for them when he saw them suffering.

So Jephthah went away because of his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. In the land of Tob, some rough men began to follow Jephthah.

The Ammonites were fighting against Israel, so the elders in Gilead went to Jephthah. They wanted Jephthah to leave the land of Tob and come back to Gilead.

The elders said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader so that we can fight the Ammonites."

But Jephthah said to the elders of the land of Gilead, "You forced me to leave my father's house. You hate me. So why are you coming to me now that you are having trouble?"

So Jephthah went with the elders from Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated all of his words in front of the Lord at the city of Mizpah.