4. They gave him seventy silver coins from the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelek hired unprincipled and undisciplined men, and they followed him.
5. He went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal, on a single stone. Yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, survived because he hid himself.
6. All the leaders of Shechem and everyone from Beth Millo gathered together by the oak near the pillar in Shechem to make Abimelek king.
7. When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He raised his voice and called out, saying to them, “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8. The trees once went out to anoint a king over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘Rule over us!’
9. “Yet the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop making oil, by which God and men are honored, to go and sway over the trees?’
10. “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and rule over us.’
11. “Yet the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop making my sweet aroma and my fruit, to go and sway over the trees?’
12. “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and rule over us.’
13. “Yet the grapevine said to them, ‘Should I stop making my fresh wine, which cheers God and men, to go and sway over the trees?’
14. “So the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You come and rule over us.’
15. “The thorn bush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade. If not, let fire come out from the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
16. “Now then, did you show good faith and integrity when you made Abimelek king? Did you deal well with Jerub-Baal and his family? Did you do to him as his actions deserved,
17. considering that my father waged war for you, risked his life for you, and delivered you from the hands of Midian?
18. Yet you have taken a stand against my father’s family today. You killed his seventy sons, each on a single stone. You made Abimelek, son of his slave woman, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother.