34Verse 1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.Verse 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.Verse 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly.Verse 4So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”Verse 5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent about it until they returned.Verse 6Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.Verse 7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel+by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.Verse 8But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.Verse 9Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.Verse 10You may settle among us, and the land will be open to you. Live here, move about freely, and acquire your own property.”Verse 11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I will give you whatever you ask.Verse 12Demand a high dowry and an expensive gift, and I will give you whatever you ask. Only give me the girl as my wife!”
The Revenge of Dinah’s Brothers
Verse 13But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully.Verse 14“We cannot do such a thing,” they said. “To give our sister to an uncircumcised man would be a disgrace to us.Verse 15We will consent to this on one condition, that you become circumcised like us—every one of your males.Verse 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will dwell among you and become one people.Verse 17But if you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and go.”Verse 18Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.Verse 19The young man, who was the most respected of all his father’s household, did not hesitate to fulfill this request, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.Verse 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city:Verse 21“These men are at peace with us. Let them live and trade in our land; indeed, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage and give our daughters to them.Verse 22But only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and be one people: if all our men are circumcised as they are.Verse 23Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”Verse 24All the men who went out of the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised.Verse 25Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male.Verse 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.Verse 27Jacob’s other sons came upon the slaughter and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled.Verse 28They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and everything else in the city or in the field.Verse 29They carried off all their possessions and women and children, and they plundered everything in their houses.Verse 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”Verse 31But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”