Genesis 34
Legacy Standard Bible
Simeon and Levi Deceive Shechem
34 Now (A)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 Then Shechem the son of Hamor (B)the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her and took her and lay with her and violated her. 3 [a]And he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke to the heart of the young woman. 4 So Shechem (C)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl as a wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in. 6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a [b](D)disgraceful thing in Israel [c]by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him as a wife. 9 And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Thus you shall [d]live with us, and (E)the land shall be open before you; [e]live and (F)trade in it and (G)take possession of property in it.” 11 And Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me. 12 Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl as a wife.”
13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, and thus they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to (H)one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. 15 Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male among you be circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will [f]live with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18 Now their words seemed good in the sight of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more honored than all the household of his father. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the (I)gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are peaceful with us; therefore let them [g]live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is [h]large enough for them. Let us take their daughters for us as wives and give our daughters to them. 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to [i]live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and what they acquire and all their cattle be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will [j]live with us.” 24 (J)And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 Now it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, (K)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the unsuspecting city and killed every male. 26 And they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and went away. 27 Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and plundered the city because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; 29 and they captured and plundered all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even all that was in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have (L)brought trouble on me by (M)making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among (N)the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and [k](O)my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he [l]treat our sister as a harlot?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 34:3 Lit His soul clung
- Genesis 34:7 Lit senseless
- Genesis 34:7 Lit to lie
- Genesis 34:10 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:10 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:16 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:21 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:21 Lit wide of hands before them
- Genesis 34:22 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:23 Lit dwell
- Genesis 34:30 Lit I, few in number
- Genesis 34:31 Or make
Genesis 34
Christian Standard Bible
Dinah Defiled
34 Leah’s daughter(A) Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2 When Shechem—son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain—saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her.[a] 4 “Get me this girl as a wife,”(B) he told his father.
5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6 Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7 Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter,(C) and such a thing should not be done.
8 Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your[b] daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor,[c] and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12 Demand of me a high compensation[d] and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”
13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15 We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.(D) 16 Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18 Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city(E) and spoke to the men of their city.
21 “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22 But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.”
24 All the men(F) who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. 25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,(G) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,(H) making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,(I) the Canaanites and the Perizzites.(J) We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”(K)
31 But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
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