47. When Abimelech was told that they had gathered there,
48. he and all his men went to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took an ax, cut some brushwood, and carried it on his shoulder. He told his men, “Hurry and do what you’ve seen me do!”
49. So all his troops also cut brushwood and followed Abimelech. They piled the brushwood on top of the basement and set it on fire with the people inside. So all the people in Shechem’s Tower died too. There were about a thousand men and women.
50. Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped there, and captured it.
51. Now, there was a strong tower inside the town. All the men, women, and leaders of the town fled to it. They locked the door behind them and went up on the roof of the tower.
52. Abimelech came to the tower. He began to fight against it and went near the entrance of the tower to burn it down.
53. Then a woman threw a small millstone that hit Abimelech on the head and cracked his skull.