And Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren went and gat them to Shechem. And the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, "What is Abimelech, and what is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul is his officer? Serve such as come of Hamor the father of Shechem. For what reason is it that we should serve him?

And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Abed, he was wroth,

and sent messengers unto Abimelech privily saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem: and behold they set the city against thee.

And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entering of the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up and the folk that were with him, from lying await.

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains." And Zebul said unto him, "The shadow of the hills seem men unto thee."

And Gaal answered again and said, "See, there come folk down by the middle of the land and another company come along by the charmer's oak."

And Gaal went out before the citizens of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.

And then Abimelech went and dwelt at Arumah. And then Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, and would not suffer them to dwell in Shechem.

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, "Wherefore wentest thou to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will therefore burn thine house upon thee with fire."

But his wife said unto him, "If the LORD would kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering of our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would have told us as he hath of things to come."

And they said, "We will not hurt thee, save only bind thee and deliver thee unto their hands: But we will not kill thee." And so they bound him with two new cords and brought him up from the rock.

And it was told the Gazites, that Samson was come thither. And they went about and laid a wait for him all night in the gate of the city, but were still all the night, saying, "Tarry till the morning that it be day, and then let us kill him."