Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 73
9:46–10:6
J u dges
61
When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard
what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith. Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple,
so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some
branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder. “Quick, do as I have
done!” he told his men. So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the
temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower
of Shechem d ied—about 1,000 men and women.
Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it. But there
was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women—the entire population—fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up
to the roof of the tower. Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But
as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, a woman on the roof dropped a
millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
He quickly said to his young armor bearer, “Draw your sword and kill
me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man
ran him through with his sword, and he died. When Abimelech’s men saw
that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.
In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against
his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also punished the men
of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was
fulfilled.
After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person
to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of
Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel for t wenty-three
years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.
After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for t wenty-two years. His
thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns
in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair. When Jair
died, he was buried in Kamon.
Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images
of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon,
and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at