32 So come with your men during the night. Hide in the fields and wait.
33 In the morning at sunrise, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out against you. Then do what you can."
34 So Abimelech and all of his troops started out at night. They went into their hiding places near Shechem. Abimelech had separated them into four companies.
35 Gaal, the son of Ebed, had already gone out. He was standing at the entrance of the city gate. He had arrived there just as Abimelech and his troops came out of their hiding places.
36 Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, "Look! People are coming down from the tops of the mountains!" Zebul replied, "You are wrong. Those aren't people. They are just the shadows of the mountains."
37 But Gaal spoke up again. He said, "Look! People are coming down from the center of the land. Another company is coming from the direction of the fortune tellers' tree."
38 Then Zebul said to Gaal, "Where is your big talk now? You said, 'Who is Abimelech? Why should we be under his rule?' Aren't these the people you looked down on? Go out and fight against them!"