30. Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said.
31. He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city.
32. Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields.
33. Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them as hard as you can!”
34. So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups.
35. When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places.
36. Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, “Look! There are men coming down from the mountain tops!”“Those are not men,” Zebul answered. “They are just shadows on the mountains.”
37. Gaal said again, “Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortune tellers!”
38. Then Zebul said to him, “Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were treating so scornfully. Go on out now and fight them.”
39. Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech.
40. Gaal fled, and Abimelech pursued him. Many were wounded, even at the city gate.
41. Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.
42. The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields,
43. so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them.
44. While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all.
45. The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt.
46. When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant.
47. Abimelech was told that they had gathered there,
48. so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an axe, cut a branch off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to be quick and do the same thing.
49. So every man cut off a branch of a tree; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died — about a thousand men and women.
50. Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it.