4. And they gave to him the weight of seventy silver coins from the shrine of Baal-berith. With this, he hired for himself indigent and wandering men, and they followed him.
5. And he went to his father's house in Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, upon one stone. And there remained only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, and he was in hiding.
6. Then all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the families of the city of Millo, and they went and appointed Abimelech as king, beside the oak that stood at Shechem.
7. When this had been reported to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim. And lifting up his voice, he cried out and said: "Listen to me, men of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.
8. The trees went to anoint a king over themselves. And they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
9. And it responded, 'How could I abandon my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, and depart to be promoted among the trees?'
10. And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and accept royal power over us.'