21. Jotham ran off and went to live in the town of Beer, where he could be safe from his brother Abimelech.
22. Abimelech had been a military commander of Israel for three years,
23-24. when God decided to punish him and the leaders of Shechem for killing Gideon's seventy sons.So God turned the leaders of Shechem against Abimelech.
25. Then they sent some men to hide on the hilltops and watch for Abimelech and his troops, while they sent others to rob everyone who went by on the road. But Abimelech found out what they were doing.
26. One day, Gaal son of Ebed went to live in Shechem. His brothers moved there too, and soon the leaders of Shechem started trusting him.
27. The time came for the grape harvest, and the people of Shechem went into their vineyards and picked the grapes. They put the grapes in their wine-pits and walked on them to squeeze out the juice in order to make wine. Then they went into the temple of their god and threw a big party. There was a lot of eating and drinking, and before long they were cursing Abimelech.