Genesis 34
Wycliffe Bible
34 Forsooth Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out to see the women of that country.
2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor (the) Hivite, the prince of that land, had seen her, he loved her, and he ravished her, and (he) slept with her, and oppressed the virgin by violence (and he oppressed the virgin with violence).
3 And his soul was bound fast with her, and he pleased her sorry with flatterings. (But his soul was bound fast to her, and he tried to appease her sorrow with flattery.)
4 And he went to Hamor, his father, and said, Take to me this damsel (for) a wife. (And he went to his father Hamor, and said, Get me this young woman for a wife.)
5 And when Jacob had heard this thing, while his sons were absent, and occupied in the feeding/in the pasturing of [the] sheep, he was still, till they came again (until they returned home).
6 Soothly when Hamor, the father of Shechem, was gone out to speak to Jacob,
7 lo! his sons came from the field. And when this thing that befelled was heard, they were wroth greatly; for he had wrought a foul thing in Israel, and he had done a thing unleaveful in the defouling of the daughter of Jacob. (lo! his sons came in from the field. And when they heard what had befallen, they were enraged; for Shechem had done a foul, or a vile, thing in Israel, and he had done an unlawful thing in the defiling of Jacob’s daughter.)
8 And so Hamor spake to them (And Hamor said to them), The soul of my son Shechem hath cleaved to your daughter; give ye her (for) a wife to him,
9 and (so) join we weddings together; give ye your daughters to us, and take ye our daughters (for yourselves),
10 and dwell ye with us; (yea,) the land is in your power; till ye, and make ye merchandise, and wield ye it (work ye it, and make ye merchandise, and possess ye it).
11 But also Shechem said to the father and brethren of her, Find I grace before you, and whatever things ye ordain I shall give; (And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, I pray that I find grace before you, and whatever things ye ask for, I shall give you;)
12 increase ye the dower, and ask ye (for) gifts, and I shall give willfully that that ye ask; only give ye this damsel (for) a wife to me. (increase ye the dowry, and ask ye for gifts, and I shall willingly give what ye ask; only give ye to me this young woman for a wife.)
13 The sons of Jacob answered in guile to Shechem and (to Hamor,) his father, and they were (made) fierce for the defouling of the maidenhood of their sister, (And Jacob’s sons answered guilefully, or deceitfully, to Shechem, and to his father Hamor, for they were enraged by the defiling of their sister’s maidenhood,)
14 We may not do this that ye ask, neither we may give our sister to a man uncircumcised, which thing is unleaveful and abominable with us. (and they said, We cannot do this thing that ye ask, for we cannot give our sister to an uncircumcised man, for such a thing is unlawful and abominable with us.)
15 But in this we shall be able to be bound in peace, if ye will be like us, and each of male kind be circumcised in you; (But by this we shall make a covenant with thee, if ye will be made like us, and each of your males be circumcised;)
16 then we shall give and take together our daughters and yours (then we shall give our daughters to you, and we shall take your daughters for ourselves); and we shall dwell with you, and we shall be one people.
17 Forsooth if ye will not be circumcised, (then) we shall take our daughter, and we shall go away.
18 The proffering of them pleased Hamor, and Shechem, his son, (And their proffer pleased Hamor, and his son Shechem,)
19 and the young waxing man delayed not, that not he fulfilled anon that that was asked; for he loved the damsel greatly, and he was (the most) noble in all the house of his father. (and the young man delayed not, but he fulfilled at once what was asked for; for he greatly loved the young woman, and he was the most noble in all of his father’s household.)
20 And they entered into the gate of the city, and spake to the people, (And so they went to the city gate, and said to the people,)
21 These men be peaceable, and will dwell with us; make they merchandise in the land, and till they it, which is large and broad, and hath need to tillers; we shall take their daughters to wives, and we shall give our daughters to them. (These men be peaceful, and will live with us; so let them make merchandise in the land, and let them work it, which is large and broad, and hath need of men to work it; and we shall take their daughters for our wives, and we shall give our daughters to them.)
22 One thing is, for which so great good is delayed; if we circumcise our males, and follow the custom of the folk, (But before that they will live with us, and we become one people, there is one thing which they require us to do; we must first circumcise all our males, and so follow this folk’s custom,)
23 both their substance, and sheep, and all things which they wield, shall be ours; only assent we in this, that we dwell together, and make one people. (then their chattel, and sheep, and all the things which they possess, shall be ours; so let us assent in this matter, so that we can all live together, and be one people.)
24 And all (the) men assented, and (so) all [the] males were circumcised.
25 And lo! in the third day, when the sorrow of [the] wounds was most grievous, two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, [the] brethren of Dinah, took swords, and entered into the city boldly; and when all [the] males were slain, (And lo! on the third day, when the pain from their wounds was most grievous, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took swords, and boldly entered into the city, and killed all the males;)
26 they killed Hamor and Shechem together, and took Dinah, their sister, from the house of Shechem. And when they were gone out, (and they killed Hamor and Shechem, and took away their sister Dinah from Shechem’s house. And when they had left the city,)
27 [the] other sons of Jacob felled in on the slain men, and rifled the city, for the vengeance of [the] defouling of the virgin (to take vengeance for their sister’s defiling).
28 And they wasted the sheep of those men, and droves of oxen, and asses, and all things that were in the houses and fields, (And they destroyed the sheep of those men, and their herds of oxen, and their donkeys, and all the things that were in their houses and in their fields,)
29 and (they) led away (as) prisoners the little children, and [the] wives of those men. And when these things were done hardily (And when these things were fully done),
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, and have made me hateful to (the) Canaanites and Perizzites, [the] dwellers of this land; we be few, [and] they shall be gathered together (against me), and shall slay me, and I shall be done away, and mine house. (Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have brought in trouble on me, and have made me to be hated by the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the inhabitants of this land; yea, we be few, and now they shall be gathered together against me, and shall slay me, and I and all of my household, or all of my family, shall be done away.)
31 Simeon and Levi answered, Whether they ought to mis-use our sister as a whore? (And Simeon and Levi answered, Should they be allowed to mis-use our sister like a whore?)
Genesis 34
Modern English Version
Dinah Is Defiled
34 Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 When Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her. 3 He was very smitten by Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to her. 4 Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
5 Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.
6 Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him. 7 The sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and were very disturbed, because Shechem had disgraced Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that should not be done.
8 Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. I pray that you will give her to him to marry. 9 Make marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You may dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Dwell and trade in it and get possessions in it.”
11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 You can make the dowry and gift I must bring high, and I will give according to what you say to me. Just give me the girl to marry.”
13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this. To give our sister to one who is uncircumcised would be a disgrace to us. 15 But we will consent to you in this: If you will become as we are, that is, every one of your males be circumcised, 16 then we will 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 listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will leave.”
18 Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. 20 So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and they spoke with the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us and be one people: if every male among us will be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and their possessions and every animal of theirs be ours? Only, let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”
24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 On the third day, when they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went to the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of the house of Shechem and departed. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the fields. 29 They took captive and looted all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, even all that was in each house.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me revolting among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Our being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I will be destroyed, both I and my household.”
31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
2001 by Terence P. Noble
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.