When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you!

The olive tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.'

But the fig tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.'

But the vine answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.'

The thorn bush answered, 'If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'

Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites.

Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you.

The LORD sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor.

while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him.

David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this ought to die!

"You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul.

"What do you want?" he asked her. "I am a poor widow, sir," she answered. "My husband is dead.

And now, sir, all my relatives have turned against me and are demanding that I hand my son over to them, so that they can kill him for murdering his brother. If they do this, I will be left without a son. They will destroy my last hope and leave my husband without a son to keep his name alive."

Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: "Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip.

The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing.

The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others.

But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!'

"What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?" asked Jesus. "He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others.

This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!' "

The prophet then said to the king, "This is the word of the LORD: 'Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.' "

Then he and Jonadab went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to Baal. He had stationed eighty men outside the temple and had instructed them: "You are to kill all these people; anyone who lets one of them escape will pay for it with his life!"

However, if the owner is allowed to pay a fine to save his life, he must pay the full amount required.

Be careful not to let bribes deceive you, or riches lead you astray.

We can never redeem ourselves; we cannot pay God the price for our lives,

He will not accept any payment; no amount of gifts will satisfy his anger.

The rich have to use their money to save their lives, but no one threatens the poor.

For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold;

it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw.