Judges 9:7-21

⁷Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, “Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹¹But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹²Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹³But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴Finally all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹⁵The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you have dealt in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved— ¹⁷for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸but you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your relative— ¹⁹if then you have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.” ²¹Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother.