Genesis 34

1 Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had by Jacob, went out to see the women of that country.

Then Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out to see the women of that region.

2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was the chief of that land, saw her, he took her by force and had connection with her.

And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the leader of that land, had seen her, he fell in love with her. And so he seized her and slept with her, overwhelming the virgin by force.

3 Then his heart went out in love to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he said comforting words to her.

And his soul was closely bound to her, and, since she was sorrowful, he soothed her with flattery.

4 And Shechem said to Hamor, his father, Get me this girl for my wife.

And going on to Hamor, his father, he said, “Obtain this girl for me as a mate.”

5 Now Jacob had word of what Shechem had done to his daughter; but his sons were in the fields with the cattle, and Jacob said nothing till they came.

But when Jacob had heard this, since his sons were absent and he was occupied in pasturing the cattle, he remained silent until they came back.

6 Then Hamor, the father of Shechem, came out to have a talk with Jacob.

Then, when Hamor, the father of Shechem, had gone out to speak to Jacob,

7 Now the sons of Jacob came in from the fields when they had news of it, and they were wounded and very angry because of the shame he had done in Israel by having connection with Jacob's daughter; and they said, Such a thing is not to be done.

behold, his sons arrived from the field. And hearing what had happened, they were very angry, because he had done a filthy thing in Israel and, in violating a daughter of Jacob, had perpetrated an unlawful act.

8 But Hamor said to them, Shechem, my son, is full of desire for your daughter: will you then give her to him for a wife?

And so Hamor spoke to them: “The soul of my son Shechem has become attached to your daughter. Give her to him as a wife.

9 And let our two peoples be joined together; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

And let us celebrate marriages with one with another. Give us your daughters, and receive our daughters.

10 Go on living with us, and the country will be open to you; do trade and get property there.

And live with us. The land is in your power: cultivate, trade, and possess it.”

11 And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, If you will give ear to my request, whatever you say I will give to you.

And Shechem even said to her father and to her brothers: “May I find favor in your sight, and whatever you will appoint, I will give.

12 However great you make the bride-price and payment, I will give it; only let me have the girl for my wife.

Increase the dowry, and request gifts, and I will freely bestow what you will ask. Only give me this girl as a wife.”

13 But the sons of Jacob gave a false answer to Shechem and Hamor his father, because of what had been done to Dinah their sister.

The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father with deceit, being enraged at the rape of their sister:

14 And they said, It is not possible for us to give our sister to one who is without circumcision, for that would be a cause of shame to us:

“We are not able to do what you ask, nor to give our sister to an uncircumcised man. For us, this is unlawful and abominable.

15 But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes circumcision;

But we may succeed in this, so as to be allied with you, if you are willing to become like us, and if all the male sex among you will be circumcised.

16 Then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to us and go on living with you as one people.

Then we will mutually give and receive your daughters as well as ours; and we will live with you, and we will become one people.

17 But if you will not undergo circumcision as we say, then we will take our daughter and go.

But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and withdraw.”

18 And their words were pleasing to Hamor and his son Shechem.

Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem.

19 And without loss of time the young man did as they said, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was the noblest of his father's house.

Neither did the young man cause any delay; in fact he immediately fulfilled what was requested. For he loved the girl very much, and he was well-known throughout his father’s house.

20 Then Hamor and Shechem, his son, went to the meeting-place of their town, and said to the men of the town,

And entering at the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:

21 It is the desire of these men to be at peace with us; let them then go on living in this country and doing trade here, for the country is wide open before them; let us take their daughters as wives and let us give them our daughters.

“These men are peaceful, and they want to live among us. Let them trade in the land and cultivate it, for, being spacious and broad, it is in need of cultivation. We will receive their daughters as wives, and we will give them ours.

22 But these men will make an agreement with us to go on living with us and to become one people, only on the condition that every male among us undergoes circumcision as they have done.

There is one thing that prevents so great a good: whether we will circumcise our males, imitating the ritual of their nation.

23 Then will not their cattle and their goods and all their beasts be ours? so let us come to an agreement with them so that they may go on living with us.

And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, will be ours, if only we will acquiesce to this, and so, in living together, will form one people.”

24 Then all the men of the town gave ear to the words of Hamor and Shechem his son; and every male in the town underwent circumcision.

And they all agreed to circumcise every one of the males.

25 But on the third day after, before the wounds were well, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came into the town by surprise and put all the males to death.

And behold, on the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, boldly entered the city with swords. And they put to death all of the males.

26 And Hamor and his son they put to death with the sword, and they took Dinah from Shechem's house and went away.

They killed Hamor and Shechem together, taking their sister Dinah from the house of Shechem.

27 And the sons of Jacob came on them when they were wounded and made waste the town because of what had been done to their sister;

And when they had departed, the other sons of Jacob rushed over the slain, and they plundered the city in vengeance for the rape.

28 They took their flocks and their herds and their asses and everything in their town and in their fields,

Taking their sheep, and herds, and donkeys, and laying waste to everything else that was in their houses and in their fields,

29 And all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives; everything in their houses they took and made them waste.

they also took their little ones and their wives captive.

30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have made trouble for me and given me a bad name among the people of this country, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and because we are small in number they will come together against me and make war on me; and it will be the end of me and all my people.

When they had boldly completed these acts, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: “You have troubled me, and you have made me hateful to the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the inhabitants of this land. We are few. They, gathering themselves together, may strike me down, and then both I and my house will be wiped away.”

31 But they said, Were we to let him make use of our sister as a loose woman?

They responded, “Should they abuse our sister like a prostitute?”