Judges 9:48

46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
KJV
And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
WEB
Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!”
ASV
And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder: and he said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
DARBY
Then Abimelech went up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people that was with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, do as I have done.
BLB
And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who [were] with him, and Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and lifted it and set it on his shoulder, and he said to the people who were with him, “What you⁺ have seen me do, hurry [and] do as I.”
ÅB
gikk han opp på Salmon-fjellet med alle de folk han hadde hos seg. Han tok en øks i hånden og hugg greiner av trærne, tok dem opp, la dem på skulderen og sa til de folk som var med ham: Skynd dere og gjør like ens som dere så jeg gjorde!
OTB
Så dro Abimelek opp til Salmon-fjellet, han og alt folket med ham. Abimelek tok en øks i hånden, hogg av en gren fra trærne, løftet den på skulderen, og sa til folket med ham: "Det dere har sett meg gjøre, skynd dere og gjør det samme."
B1930
gikk han op på Salmon-fjellet med alle de folk han hadde hos sig. Han tok en øks i hånden og hugg grener av trærne, tok dem op, la dem på skulderen og sa til de folk som var med ham: Skynd eder og gjør like ens som I så jeg gjorde!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references