Genesis 34-37

New International Version

Dinah and the Shechemites

34 Now Dinah,^(A) the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² When Shechem^(B) son of Hamor^(C) the Hivite,^(D) the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.^{(E) 3} His heart was drawn to Dinah^(F) daughter of Jacob;^(G) he loved^(H) the young woman and spoke tenderly^(I) to her. ⁴ And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”^(J)

⁵ When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled,^(K) his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

⁶ Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.^{(L) 7} Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked^(M) and furious,^(N) because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in^[a] Israel^(O) by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.^(P)

⁸ But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.^{(Q) 9} Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.^{(R) 10} You can settle among us;^(S) the land is open to you.^(T) Live in it, trade^[b] in it,^(U) and acquire property in it.^(V)”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,^(W) and I will give you whatever you ask. ¹² Make the price for the bride^(X) and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

¹³ Because their sister Dinah had been defiled,^(Y) Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully^(Z) as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised.^(AA) That would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition^(AB) only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.^{(AC) 16} Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves.^(AD) We’ll settle among you and become one people with you.^{(AE) 17} But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

¹⁸ Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ The young man, who was the most honored^(AF) of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.^{(AG) 20} So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city^(AH) to speak to the men of their city. ²¹ “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it;^(AI) the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.^{(AJ) 22} But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised,^(AK) as they themselves are. ²³ Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours?^(AL) So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.^(AM)”

²⁴ All the men who went out of the city gate^(AN) agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

²⁵ Three days later, while all of them were still in pain,^(AO) two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon^(AP) and Levi,^(AQ) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords^(AR) and attacked the unsuspecting city,^(AS) killing every male.^{(AT) 26} They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword^(AU) and took Dinah^(AV) from Shechem’s house and left. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city^(AW) where^[c] their sister had been defiled.^{(AX) 28} They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys^(AY) and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.^{(AZ) 29} They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children,^(BA) taking as plunder^(BB) everything in the houses.^(BC)

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble^(BD) on me by making me obnoxious^(BE) to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land.^(BF) We are few in number,^(BG) and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

³¹ But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?^(BH)”

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel^(BI) and settle there, and build an altar^(BJ) there to God,^(BK) who appeared to you^(BL) when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”^(BM)

² So Jacob said to his household^(BN) and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods^(BO) you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.^{(BP) 3} Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,^(BQ) who answered me in the day of my distress^(BR) and who has been with me wherever I have gone.^(BS)” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,^(BT) and Jacob buried them under the oak^(BU) at Shechem.^{(BV) 5} Then they set out, and the terror of God^(BW) fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.^(BX)

⁶ Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz^(BY) (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.^{(BZ) 7} There he built an altar,^(CA) and he called the place El Bethel,^[d](CB) because it was there that God revealed himself to him^(CC) when he was fleeing from his brother.^(CD)

⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,^(CE) died and was buried under the oak^(CF) outside Bethel.^(CG) So it was named Allon Bakuth.^[e]

⁹ After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,^[f](CH) God appeared to him again and blessed him.^{(CI) 10} God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,^[g] but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.^[h]”^(CJ) So he named him Israel.

¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty^[i];^(CK) be fruitful and increase in number.^(CL) A nation^(CM) and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.^{(CN) 12} The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.^(CO)”^{(CP) 13} Then God went up from him^(CQ) at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴ Jacob set up a stone pillar^(CR) at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering^(CS) on it; he also poured oil on it.^{(CT) 15} Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.^[j](CU)

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac^(CV)

¹⁶ Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,^(CW) Rachel^(CX) began to give birth and had great difficulty. ¹⁷ And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife^(CY) said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”^{(CZ) 18} As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.^[k](DA) But his father named him Benjamin.^[l](DB)

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath^(DC) (that is, Bethlehem^(DD)). ²⁰ Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day^(DE) that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.^(DF)

²¹ Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.^{(DG) 22} While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine^(DH) Bilhah,^(DI) and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

These were the sons of Jacob,^(DU) who were born to him in Paddan Aram.^(DV)

²⁷ Jacob came home to his father Isaac^(DW) in Mamre,^(DX) near Kiriath Arba^(DY) (that is, Hebron),^(DZ) where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.^{(EA) 28} Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.^{(EB) 29} Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people,^(EC) old and full of years.^(ED) And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.^(EE)

Esau’s Descendants^(EF)(EG)

36 This is the account^(EH) of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).^(EI)

⁹ This is the account^(EY) of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites^(EZ) in the hill country of Seir.

¹⁵ These were the chiefs^(FK) among Esau’s descendants:

¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau^(FU) (that is, Edom),^(FV) and these were their chiefs.^(FW)

²⁰ These were the sons of Seir the Horite,^(FX) who were living in the region:

The Rulers of Edom^(GH)

³¹ These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king^(GI) reigned:

⁴⁰ These were the chiefs^(GO) descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:

This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.^(GP)

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,^(GQ) the land of Canaan.^(GR)

² This is the account^(GS) of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,^(GT) a young man of seventeen,^(GU) was tending the flocks^(GV) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah^(GW) and the sons of Zilpah,^(GX) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report^(GY) about them.

³ Now Israel^(GZ) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(HA) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(HB) and he made an ornate^[r] robe^(HC) for him.^{(HD) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(HE) and could not speak a kind word to him.

⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(HF) and when he told it to his brothers,^(HG) they hated him all the more.^{(HH) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(HI) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(HJ)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(HK) And they hated him all the more^(HL) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁹ Then he had another dream,^(HM) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars^(HN) were bowing down to me.”^(HO)

¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers,^(HP) his father rebuked^(HQ) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”^{(HR) 11} His brothers were jealous of him,^(HS) but his father kept the matter in mind.^(HT)

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(HU) 13} and Israel^(HV) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(HW) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers^(HX) and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.^(HY)

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(HZ)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(IA)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(IB)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(IC) and say that a ferocious animal^(ID) devoured him.^(IE) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(IF)

²¹ When Reuben^(IG) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(IH) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(II) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.^(IJ)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(IK) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(IL) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(IM) coming from Gilead.^(IN) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(IO) and myrrh,^(IP) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(IQ)

²⁶ Judah^(IR) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(IS) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(IT) our own flesh and blood.^(IU)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(IV) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(IW) and sold^(IX) him for twenty shekels^[s] of silver^(IY) to the Ishmaelites,^(IZ) who took him to Egypt.^(JA)

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.^{(JB) 30} He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”^(JC)

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe,^(JD) slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.^{(JE) 32} They took the ornate robe^(JF) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal^(JG) has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”^(JH)

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes,^(JI) put on sackcloth^(JJ) and mourned for his son many days.^{(JK) 35} All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,^(JL) but he refused to be comforted.^(JM) “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son^(JN) in the grave.^(JO)” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites^[t](JP) sold Joseph^(JQ) in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.^(JR)