1. Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal, went to his mother’s kin in Shechem, and said to them and to the whole clan to which his mother’s family belonged,
2. “Put this question to all the lords of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you: that seventy men, all Jerubbaal’s sons, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ You must remember that I am your own flesh and bone.”
3. When his mother’s kin repeated these words on his behalf to all the lords of Shechem, they set their hearts on Abimelech, thinking, “He is our kin.”
4. They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless men and outlaws as his followers.
5. He then went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. Only the youngest son of Jerubbaal, Jotham, escaped, for he was hidden.
6. Then all the lords of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and made Abimelech king by the terebinth at the memorial pillar in Shechem.
7. When this was reported to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and cried out in a loud voice:“Hear me, lords of Shechem,and may God hear you!