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,