21. Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.
22. Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.
23. Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against him.
24. This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime.
25. The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountain tops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this.
26. Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27. They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and spoke scornfully of Abimelech.
28. Gaal said, “What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan!
29. I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would say to him, ‘Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!’ ”
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!”