Genesis 34
34
1And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her. 3And his soul fastened on Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden, and spoke consolingly to the maiden. 4And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, Take me this girl as wife. 5And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his cattle in the fields, and Jacob said nothing until they came.
6And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob, to speak to him. 7And the sons of Jacob came from the fields when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had wrought what was disgraceful in Israel, in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done. 8And Hamor spoke to them, saying, My son Shechem's soul cleaves to your daughter: I pray you, give her to him as wife. 9And make marriages with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you. 10And dwell with us, and the land shall be before you: dwell and trade in it, and get yourselves possessions in it. 11And Shechem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me find favour in your eyes; and what ye shall say to me I will give. 12Impose on me very much as dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say to me; but give me the maiden as wife. 13And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and spoke — because he had defiled Dinah their sister — 14and said to them, We cannot do this, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach to us. 15But only in this will we consent to you, if ye will be as we, that every male of you be circumcised; 16then will we give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and be one people. 17But if ye do not hearken to us, to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and go away.
18And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son. 19And the youth did not delay to do this, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honourable above all in the house of his father. 20And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it. And the land — behold, it is of wide extent before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters. 22But only in this will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to be one people — if every male among us be circumcised, just as they are circumcised. 23Their cattle, and their possessions, and every beast of theirs, shall they not be ours? only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us. 24And all that went out at the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised — all that went out at the gate of his city.
25And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew with the edge of the sword; and took Dinah out of Shechem's house; and went out. 27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28Their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and what was in the city, and what was in the field they took; 29and all their goods, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and plundered them, and all that was in the houses. 30And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, in that ye make me odious among the inhabitants of the land — among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I am few men in number, and they will gather themselves against me and smite me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 31And they said, Should people deal with our sister as with a harlot?
Currently Selected:
Genesis 34: DARBY
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 34
34
Revenge against Shechem
1One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. 2But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her. 3But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words. 4He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her.”
5Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned. 6Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob. 7Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,#34:7 Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel. something that should never be done.
8Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her. 9In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. 10And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”
11Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask. 12No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”
13But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor. 14They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! 15But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are, 16then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. 17But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”
18Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal. 19Shechem wasted no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family, 20and he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.
21“These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. 22But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. 23But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”
24So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised. 25But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there, 26including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
27Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there. 28They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. 29They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.
30Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land—among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”
31“But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT: