Judges 9:41-57
New American Standard Bible
42Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech.
43So he took his people and divided them into three units, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he attacked them and killed them.
44Then Abimelech and the company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; the other two companies then attacked all who were in the field and killed them.
45Abimelech fought against the city that whole day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
47And it was reported to Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and put it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, 'What you saw me do, hurry and do likewise.'
49So all the people also cut down, each one, his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on top of the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it.
51But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower.
52So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire.
53But a woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, 'Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’?' So the young man pierced him through, and he died.
55Now when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each left for his home.
56So God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers.
57God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
King James Version
42And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.
43And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
44And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them.
45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
46And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
47And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
49And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
50Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
51But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.
52And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.
54Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
Christian Standard Bible
42The next day when the people of Shechem went into the countryside, this was reported to Abimelech.
43He took the troops, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down.
44Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down.
45So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem heard, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
47Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem had gathered.
48So Abimelech and all the troops who were with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut a branch from the trees. He picked up the branch, put it on his shoulder, and said to the troops who were with him, "Hurry and do what you have seen me do."
49Each of the troops also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire; about a thousand men and women died, including all the men of the Tower of Shechem.
50Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it.
51There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and citizens of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.
52When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.
53But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and fractured his skull.
54He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, or they’ll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.’" So his armor-bearer ran him through, and he died.
55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
New Living Translation
42The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it,
43he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them.
44Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields.
45The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.
46When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith.
47Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple,
48so 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.
49So 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 died — about 1,000 men and women.
50Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it.
51But 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.
52Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance,
53a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
English Standard Version
42On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told.
43He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them.
44Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.
45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith.
47Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, "What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done."
49So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it.
51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower.
52And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech 's head and crushed his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’" And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home.
56Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.
57And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
New International Version
42The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek.
43So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them.
44Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down.
45All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.
46On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith.
47When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there,
48he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, "Quick! Do what you have seen me do!"
49So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.
50Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it.
51Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof.
52Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire,
53a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.
New King James Version
42And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.
43So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and attacked them.
44Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them.
45So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
46Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.
47And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.”
49So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech, put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it.
51But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower.
52So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place.