Dommer 9
1 Jerubba'als Søn Abimelek begav sig til sine Morbrødre i Sikem og talte til dem og til hele sin Moders Fædrenehus's Slægt og sagde:
Gideon’s son Abimelech went to [talk with] his mother’s brothers in Shechem [city]. He said to them and to all his mother’s relatives,
2 »Sig til alle Sikems Borgere: Hvad baader eder vel bedst, at halvfjerdsindstyve Mænd, alle Jerubba'als Sønner, eller at en enkelt Mand hersker over eder? Kom i Hu, at jeg er eders Kød og Blod!«
“Ask all the leaders of your city: ‘Do you [think it would be] good for all 70 of Gideon’s sons to rule over you? Or would it be better to have only one of his sons, [me], to rule over you?’ And do not forget that I am your relative! [MTY]”
3 Hans Morbrødre talte da alle disse Ord til alle Sikems Borgere til Gunst til ham; og deres Hu vendte sig til Abimelek, idet de sagde: »Han er vor Broder.«
So Abimelech’s mother’s brothers spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about what Abimelech had said. They said to each other, “We should allow Abimelech to rule over us, because he is our relative.”
4 De gav ham derpaa halvfjerdsindstyve Sekel Sølv fra Ba'al-Berits Hus, og for dem lejede Abimelek nogle daarlige og frække Folk, som sluttede sig til ham.
So the leaders of Shechem took from the temple of [their god] Baal-Berith (almost 2 pounds/0.8 kg.) of silver and gave it to Abimelech. With that silver he paid some worthless troublemakers to help him, and they went with Abimelech wherever he went.
5 Derpaa drog han til sin Faders Hus i Ofra og slog sine Brødre, Jerubba'als halvfjerdsindstyve Sønner, ihjel paa een Sten. Kun Jotam, Jerubba'als yngste Søn, blev tilbage, thi han havde skjult sig.
They went to Ophrah, his father’s town, and murdered 69 of his 70 brothers, the sons of his father Gideon. They killed all those men on one huge rock. But Gideon’s youngest son Jotham hid [from Abimelech and his men], and he escaped.
6 Derefter samledes alle Sikems Borgere og hele Millos Hus og gik hen og gjorde Abimelek til Konge ved Egen med Stenstøtten i Sikem.
Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered under the big sacred tree in Shechem. There they appointed Abimelech to be their leader.
7 Da Jotam fik Efterretning herom, gik han hen og stillede sig paa Toppen af Garizims Bjerg og raabte med høj Røst til dem: »Hør mig, Sikems Borgere, saa skal Gud høre eder!
When Jotham heard about that, he climbed up Gerizim Mountain. He stood at the top of the mountain and shouted to the people [down below], “You leaders of Shechem, listen to me, in order that God will listen to you!
8 Engang tog Træerne sig for at salve sig en Konge. De sagde da til Olietræet: Vær du vor Konge!
One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over all of them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘You be our king!’
9 Men Olietræet svarede dem: Skulde jeg give Afkald paa min Fedme, for hvilken Guder og Mennesker priser mig, for at give mig til at svæve over Træerne?
“But the olive tree said, ‘No! [I will not be your king] Men and gods enjoy the oil from my fruit. I will not [RHQ] stop producing [olives from which we make] that oil, in order to rule over you other trees!’
10 Saa sagde Træerne til Figentræet: Kom du og vær vor Konge!
“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’
11 Men Figentræet svarede dem: Skulde jeg give Afkald paa min Sødme og min liflige Frugt for at give mig til at svæve over Træerne?
“But the fig tree replied, ‘No! I do not want to [RHQ] stop producing my good sweet fruit, and rule over you other trees!’
12 Saa sagde Træerne til Vinstokken: Kom du og vær vor Konge!
“Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘Come and be our king!’
13 Men Vinstokken svarede dem: Skulde jeg give Afkald paa min Most, som glæder Guder og Mennesker, for at give mig til at svæve over Træerne?
“But the grapevine replied, ‘No! [I will not be your king] The new wine [that is made from my grapes] causes people and gods [who drink it] to become very happy. I do not want to stop producing grapes and rule over you other trees!’ [RHQ]
14 Da sagde alle Træerne til Tornebusken: Kom du og vær vor Konge!
“Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king!’
15 Og Tornebusken svarede Træerne: Hvis I mener det ærligt med at salve mig til eders Konge, kom saa og søg ind under min Skygge; men hvis ikke, saa vil Flammer slaa op af Tornebusken og fortære Libanons Cedre!
“The thornbush replied, ‘If you truly want to appoint me to be your king, come into the shade of my [tiny branches]. But if you do not want to do that, I hope/desire that fire will come out from me and burn up all the huge cedar trees in Lebanon [country]!’”
16 Hvis I nu er gaaet ærligt og redeligt til Værks, da I gjorde Abimelek til Konge, og hvis I har handlet vel mod Jerubba'al og hans Hus og gengældt ham, hvad han gjorde —
“[After] Jotham [finished telling them this parable, he] said, “So now [I ask you], were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king [RHQ]? And have you treated Gideon and his family [RHQ] fairly? Have you rewarded Gideon by honoring him as he deserved [because of all the good things he did for you]? No!
17 min Fader kæmpede jo for eder og vovede sit Liv for at frelse eder af Midjaniternes Haand,
“[Do not forget that] my father fought a battle for you, and he was willing to die for you [if that had been necessary], to save you from the Midian people-group.
18 men I har i Dag rejst eder mod min Faders Hus, dræbt hans Sønner, halvfjerdsindstyve Mænd, paa een Sten og sat hans Trælkvindes Søn Abimelek til Konge over Sikems Borgere, fordi han er eders Broder —
But now you have rebelled against my father’s family, and you have killed 69 of his sons on one huge rock. And you have appointed Abimelech—who is the son of my father’s slave girl, [not the son of his wife]—to be the king who will rule you people of Shechem. You have done that only because he is one of your relatives!
19 ja, hvis I i Dag er gaaet ærligt og redeligt til Værks mod Jerubba'al og hans Hus, saa gid I maa faa Glæde af Abimelek, og gid han maa faa Glæde af eder;
So, if today you have truly acted fairly and sincerely toward Gideon and his family, I hope/desire that he will cause you to be happy and that you will cause him to be happy.
20 men hvis ikke, saa slaa Flammer op fra Abimelek og fortære Sikems Borgere og Millos Hus, og Flammer slaa op fra Sikems Borgere og Millos Hus og fortære Abimelek!«
But if what you did was not right, I wish/desire that Abimelech will burn up all of you leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo with fire! And I also hope/desire that the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo will cause fire to burn up Abimelech!”
21 Derpaa tog Jotam Flugten og flygtede til Be'er; og der tog han Ophold for at være i Sikkerhed for sin Broder Abimelek.
[After] Jotham [finished saying that, he] escaped from them and ran away to Beer [town]. He stayed there because he was afraid that his brother Abimelech [would try to kill him].
22 Da Abimelek havde haft Magten over Israel i tre Aar,
Abimelech [became the leader of all the people of Israel. He] ruled them for three years.
23 sendte Gud en ond Aand mellem Abimelek og Sikems Borgere, og Sikems Borgere faldt fra Abimelek,
Then God sent an evil spirit [to cause trouble] between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, with the result that the leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech.
24 for at Voldsgerningen mod Jerubba'als halvfjerdsindstyve Sønner kunde blive hævnet og deres Blod komme over deres Broder Abimelek, som havde dræbt dem, og over Sikems Borgere, som havde sat ham i Stand til at dræbe sine Brødre.
The leaders of Shechem had previously helped Abimelech to kill 69 of Gideon’s sons, who were his brothers. So now God sent the evil spirit to punish all of them.
25 Sikems Borgere lagde da Baghold paa Bjergtoppene, og de udplyndrede alle vejfarende, der kom forbi dem. Dette meldtes Abimelek.
The leaders of Shechem (set an ambush/sent men to hide) on the hilltops to ambush Abimelech. Those men robbed everyone who passed by. But someone told Abimelech about it, [so he did not go near them].
26 Nu kom Ga'al, Ebeds Søn, med sine Brødre og flyttede ind i Sikem; og Sikems Borgere fattede Tillid til ham.
There was a man named Gaal, the son of Ebed, who moved into Shechem [city], along with his brothers. Soon the leaders of Shechem started to trust him.
27 De begav sig ud i Marken, plukkede Druer og pressede dem og fejrede deres Vinhøstfest. Og de gik ind i deres Guds Hus, hvor de spiste og drak og udstødte Forbandelser over Abimelek.
They went out [of the city] to their vineyards and picked some grapes. They pressed the grapes [to make juice, and then they made wine]. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, and they ate [a lot of food] and drank [a lot of wine]. Then they cursed Abimelech.
28 Da sagde Ga'al, Ebeds Søn: »Hvem er Abimelek, og hvad er Sikem, at vi skal være hans Trælle! Var ikke Jerubba'als Søn og hans Foged Zebul Trælle for Hamors, Sikems Faders, Mænd hvorfor skal vi da være hans Trælle?
Gaal said, “(Why should [we allow] Abimelech to rule over us?/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us!) [RHQ] He is only one of Gideon’s sons [so he really does not belong to us] [RHQ]! And he appointed Zebul, the governor of our city, to be his deputy! We should (serve/be loyal to) [one of the descendants of] Hamor, [the founder of our city], and let him be our leader, not Abimelech [RHQ]!
29 Havde jeg blot Magten over Folket her, skulde jeg nok skaffe Abimelek af Vejen!«
If you would appoint me to be your leader, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready, [and then come to fight us]!’”
30 Da Zebul, Byens Høvedsmand, hørte Ga'als, Ebeds Søns, Ord, blussede hans Vrede op,
When someone told Zebul what Gaal said, he was very angry.
31 og han sendte Bud til Abimelek i Aruma og lod sige: »Se, Ga'al, Ebeds Søn, og hans Brødre er kommet til Sikem, og se, de ophidser Byen imod dig; forstærk derfor din Hær og ryk ud!
He secretly sent some messengers to Abimelech. They told him, “Gaal and his brothers have come here to Shechem, and they are causing [the people of] the city to rebel against you.
32 Og nu, bryd op ved Nattetide med dine Folk og læg dig i Baghold paa Marken;
You and your men should get up during the night and go and hide in the fields outside the city.
33 og kast dig saa over Byen tidligt om Morgenen, naar Solen staar op! Naar da han og hans Folk rykker ud imod dig, kan du gøre med dem, hvad der falder for!«
As soon as the sun rises in the morning, get up and attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight against you, you can do to them whatever you want to.”
34 Abimelek brød da op ved Nattetide med alle sine Folk, og de lagde sig i Baghold imod Sikem i fire Afdelinger.
So Abimelech and all the men who were with him got up during the night. They [divided into] four groups, [and] hid [in the fields] near Shechem.
35 Da gik Ga'al, Ebeds Søn, ned og stillede sig op ved Byporten. Og Abimelek og hans Folk rejste sig fra deres Baghold.
[The next morning], Gaal went out and stood at the entrance to the city gate. While he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places [and started walking toward the city].
36 Da Ga'al fik Øje paa Folkene, sagde han til Zebul: »Se, der stiger Folk ned fra Bjergtoppene!« Men Zebul sagde til ham: »Det er Bjergenes Skygge, du tager for Mænd!«
When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the hills!” But Zebul said, “You are seeing only the shadows [of trees] on the hills. They [are not people; they] only resemble people.”
37 Men Ga'al sagde atter: »Der stiger Folk ned fra Landets Navle, og en anden Skare kommer i Retning af Sandsigernes Træ!«
But Gaal [looked] again [and] said, “Look! There are people coming down from the top of the sacred mountain! There is a group of them coming down from where the tree is where people talk with the spirits of dead people!”
38 Da sagde Zebul til ham: »Hvor er nu dine store Ord fra før: Hvem er Abimelek, at vi skal være hans Trælle? Der er de Folk, du lod haant om — ryk nu ud og kæmp med dem!«
Zebul said to Gaal, “Now (what good is your bragging?/your bragging is worthless!) [MTY, RHQ] You said, ‘(Why should we serve Abimelech/We should not allow Abimelech to rule over us)?’ You made fun of these men. So now go out and fight them!”
39 Ga'al rykkede da ud i Spidsen for Sikems Borgere for at kæmpe mod Abimelek.
So Gaal led the men of Shechem outside [the city] to fight Abimelech [and his men].
40 Men Abimelek slog ham paa Flugt, og mange faldt og laa dræbte helt hen til Byporten.
Abimelech and his men pursued them, and they killed many of Gaal’s men before they could return [safely] inside the city gate.
41 Abimelek tog saa Ophold i Aruma; og Zebul jog Ga'al og hans Brødre bort fra Sikem.
Abimelech then stayed at Arumah, [about five miles away from Shechem], and Zebul’s men forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
42 Næste Dag begav Folket sig ud paa Marken, og det meldtes Abimelek.
The next day, the people of Shechem [got ready to leave the city and work] in their fields. When someone told Abimelech about that,
43 Han tog da sine Folk og delte dem i tre dele og lagde Baghold paa Marken; og da han saa Folket drage ud, overfaldt han dem og slog dem.
he divided his men into three groups, and told them to hide in the fields. So they did that. And when they saw the people coming out of the city, they jumped up and attacked them.
44 Og Abimelek og den Afdeling, han havde hos sig, brød frem og tog Stilling ved Indgangen til Byen, medens de to andre Afdelinger kastede sig over alle dem, der var ude paa Marken; og huggede dem ned;
Abimelech and the men who were with him ran to the city gate. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and attacked them.
45 og efter at Abimelek hele Dagen igennem havde angrebet Byen, indtog han den, dræbte Folkene deri, nedbrød Byen og strøede Salt paa den.
Abimelech and his men fought all day. They captured the city and killed all the people. They tore down all the buildings, and then they threw salt over the ruins [in order that nothing would grow there again].
46 Da hele Besætningen i Sikems Taarn hørte det, begav de sig ben til Kælderrummet i El-Berits Hus.
When the leaders who lived in the tower/fortress outside of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid inside the [fortress, which was also a] temple of [their god] El-Berith.
47 Og da Abimelek fik Melding om, at hele Besætningen i Sikems Taarn var samlet,
But someone told Abimelech that all the leaders had gathered there.
48 gik han med alle sine Folk op paa Zalmonbjerget. Her greb han en Økse, afhuggede et Knippe Grene, løftede det op og tog det paa Skulderen; og han sagde til sine Folk: »Skynd eder at gøre det samme, som I saa, jeg gjorde!«
So he and all the men who were with him went up Zalmon Mountain [which is near Shechem]. Abimelech cut some branches of trees with an axe, and put them on his shoulders. Then he said to all the men who were with him, “Quickly, do what I have just done!”
49 Alle Folkene afhuggede da ogsaa hver sit Knippe og fulgte efter Abimelek og lagde det oven paa Kælderrummet og stak Ild paa Kælderrummet oven over dem. Saaledes omkom ogsaa hele Besætningen i Sikems Taarn, henved 1000 Mænd og Kvinder.
So his men all cut branches [then carried them down the mountain], following Abimelech. They went to the fortress and piled the branches against its walls. Then they kindled a fire, and the fire burned down the fortress and killed all the people who were inside. So all the people who were inside the fortress—about 1,000 men and women—died.
50 Derefter drog Abimelek mod Tebez, og han belejrede Byen og indtog den.
Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebes [city]. They surrounded it and captured it.
51 Inde i Byen var der et stærkt befæstet Taarn; derhen flygtede alle Mænd og Kvinder, alle Byens Indbyggere, idet de stængede efter sig og tyede op paa Taarnets Tag;
But there was a strong tower inside the city. So all the men, women, and leaders of the city ran to the tower. When they were all inside, they locked the door. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower.
52 Abimelek rykkede da frem til Taarnet og angreb det; men da han nærmede sig Taarnets Indgang for at stikke Ild derpaa,
Abimelech and his men came to the tower and tried to get in the door, [but they could not]. Then Abimelech prepared to light a fire to burn down the door.
53 kastede en Kvinde en Møllesten ned paa Abimeleks Hoved og knuste hans Hjerneskal.
But when Abimelech came near the doorway, a woman [who was on the roof] dropped a big grinding stone on his head, and crushed his skull.
54 Da raabte han i Hast til sin Vaabendrager: »Drag dit Sværd og dræb mig, for at det ikke skal siges, at en Kvinde har slaaet mig ihjel!« Og Vaabendrageren gennemborede ham, saa han døde.
Abimelech quickly called to the young man who carried Abimelech’s weapons, and said, “Pull out your sword and kill me with it! I do not want people to say ‘It was a woman who killed Abimelech.’” So the young man thrust his sword into Abimelech, and Abimelech died.
55 Men da Israeliterne saa, at Abimelek var død, begav de sig hver til sit.
When the Israeli soldiers saw that Abimelech was dead, they all returned to their homes.
56 Saaledes gengældte Gud det onde, Abimelek havde øvet mod sin Fader ved at dræbe sine halvfjerdsindstyve Brødre;
In that way God punished Abimelech for the evil things that he had done to his father and especially for killing all 69 of his brothers.
57 og al Sikemiternes Ondskab lod Gud komme over deres egne Hoveder. Paa den Maade kom Jotams, Jerubba'als Søns, Forbandelse over dem.
God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil things that they had done. And when those things happened, it fulfilled what Gideon’s son Jotham said when he cursed [Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem].
