Genesis 34

1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

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.

Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.

3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.

4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a 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 heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.

6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him.

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,

The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that ought 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:

Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,

Make marriages with us. 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.

You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.”

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.

Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give.

12 Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”

13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit when they spoke, because he had defiled 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 said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach 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:

Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised,

16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

then will we give our daughters to you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:

But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.”

18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:

Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.

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.

The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honoured above all the house of his father.

20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:

Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,

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.

“These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters to us for wives, and let’s 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.

Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male amongst us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.

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.

Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”

24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

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:

On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.

26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina, out of Sichem’s house.

They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of 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.

Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled 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, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,

29 And their children and wives they took captive,

and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.

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.

Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, amongst the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”

31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”