Meanwhile, Ebed's son Gaal arrived with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem. The "lords" of Shechem put their faith in him.

Then Ebed's son Gaal remarked, "Who is this Abimelech? And who is Shechem? Should we serve him? Isn't he Jerubbaal's son? Isn't Zebul his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's ancestor but why are we serving him?

When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard what Ebed's son Gaal had said, he flew into a rage.

He sent messengers to Abimelech in secret and told him, "Look out! Ebed's son Gaal and his family have arrived here in Shechem. Watch out! They're stirring up the city against you.

Ebed's son Gaal went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate while Abimelech and his army were creeping out of their ambush.

From Adin's descendants: Jonathan's son Ebed and 50 men with him.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,

so Ebed-melech went out of the palace and spoke to the king:

Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: "Thirty men are at your disposal. Take them with you and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies."

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the palace, underneath the storeroom. He took worn out rags and worn out clothes from there, and using ropes he lowered them down to Jeremiah in the cistern.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian told Jeremiah, "Put the worn out rags and clothes under your armpits under the ropes," and Jeremiah did as he said.

"Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I'm going to fulfill my promise against this city for disaster rather than for good, and on that day it will happen before your eyes.