God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell ¹  on them.

¹ Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel.

They were allotted as cities ¹  of refuge Shechem and its pasturelands (in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer and its pasturelands,

God has spoken in his sanctuary: ¹  “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem; the Valley of Succoth I will measure off. ² 

God has spoken in his sanctuary: ¹  “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem, the valley of Succoth I will measure off. ² 

The company of priests is like a gang of robbers, lying in ambush to pounce on a victim. They commit murder on the road to Shechem; they have done heinous crimes!

Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree ¹  of Moreh ²  at Shechem. ³  (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) ⁴ 

All the men who assembled at the city gate ¹  agreed with ²  Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate ³  was circumcised.

The rest of Manasseh’s descendants were also assigned land ¹  by their clans, including the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their clans.

When Jotham heard the news, ¹  he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, ²  “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ¹  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ² 

However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel ¹  (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.”

Their property and settlements included Bethel ¹  and its surrounding towns, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its surrounding towns to the west, and Shechem and its surrounding towns as far as Ayyah and its surrounding towns.

eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. ¹  They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves to show they were mourning. ²  They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ³ 

So Jacob ¹  said to him, “Go now and check on ²  the welfare ³  of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob ⁴  sent him from the valley of Hebron.

“Tell ¹  all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want ²  to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’” ³ 

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches ¹  against the stronghold and set fire to it. ²  All the people ³  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

But you have attacked ¹  my father’s family ²  today. You murdered his seventy legitimate ³  sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative. ⁴ 

When ¹  Jacob heard that Shechem ²  had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent ³  until they came in.

The next day the Shechemites ¹  came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it, ²