31. And so he sent some messengers to Abimelech. But they had to pretend to be doing something else, or they would not have been allowed to leave Shechem. Zebul told the messengers to say:Gaal the son of Ebed has come to Shechem along with his brothers, and they have persuaded the people to let Gaal rule Shechem instead of you.
32. This is what I think you should do. Lead your army here during the night and hide in the fields.
33. Get up the next morning at sunrise and rush out of your hiding places to attack the town. Gaal and his followers will come out to fight you, but you will easily defeat them.
34. So one night, Abimelech led his soldiers to Shechem. He divided them into four groups, and they all hid near the town.
35. The next morning, Gaal went out and stood in the opening of the town gate. Abimelech and his soldiers left their hiding places,
36. and Gaal saw them. Zebul was standing there with Gaal, and Gaal remarked, “Zebul, that looks like a crowd of people coming down from the mountaintops.”“No,” Zebul answered, “it's just the shadows of the mountains. It only looks like people moving.”
37. “But Zebul, look over there,” Gaal said. “There's a crowd coming down from the sacred mountain, and another group is coming along the road from the tree where people talk with the spirits of the dead.”
38. Then Zebul replied, “What good is all your boasting now? You were the one who said Abimelech shouldn't be the ruler of Shechem. Out there is the army that you made fun of. So go out and fight them!”
39. Gaal and the leaders of Shechem went out and fought Abimelech.
40. Soon the people of Shechem turned and ran back into the town. However, Abimelech and his troops were close behind and killed many of them along the way.
41. Abimelech stayed at Arumah, and Zebul forced Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
42. The next morning, the people of Shechem were getting ready to work in their fields as usual, but someone told Abimelech about it.