< Genesis 34 >
1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.
Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had by Jacob, went out to see the women of that country.
2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.
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.
3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.
Then his heart went out in love to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he said comforting words to her.
4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.
And Shechem said to Hamor, his father, Get me this girl for my wife.
5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.
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.
6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,
Then Hamor, the father of Shechem, came out to have a talk with Jacob.
7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob’s daughter,
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.
8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:
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?
9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,
And let our two peoples be joined together; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade, and possess it.
Go on living with us, and the country will be open to you; do trade and get property there.
11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favour in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.
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.
12 Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.
However great you make the bride-price and payment, I will give it; only let me have the girl for my wife.
13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:
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.
14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.
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:
15 But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:
But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes circumcision;
16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:
Then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to us and go on living with you as one people.
17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:
But if you will not undergo circumcision as we say, then we will take our daughter and go.
18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:
And their words were pleasing to Hamor and his son Shechem.
19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father’s house.
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.
20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:
Then Hamor and Shechem, his son, went to the meeting-place of their town, and said to the men of the town,
21 These men are peaceable and willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.
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.
22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.
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.
23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours: only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.
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.
24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.
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.
25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:
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.
26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina, out of Sichem’s house.
And Hamor and his son they put to death with the sword, and they took Dinah from Shechem's house and went away.
27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.
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;
28 And they took their sheep and their herds and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in the fields.
They took their flocks and their herds and their asses and everything in their town and in their fields,
29 And their children and wives they took captive,
And all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives; everything in their houses they took and made them waste.
30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land: we are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house, shall be destroyed.
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.
31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?
But they said, Were we to let him make use of our sister as a loose woman?