The Defiling of Dinah

34 Now ^(A)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of ^(B)Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. ³ And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem ^(C)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and ^(D)very angry, because he ^(E)had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, ^(F)for such a thing must not be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your^[a] daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and ^(G)the land shall be open to you. Dwell and ^(H)trade in it, and ^(I)get property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, ^(J)“Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me for as great a ^(K)bride-price^[b] and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for ^(L)that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell 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 we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. ¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now ^(M)he was the most honored of all his father's house. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem ^(N)came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and ^(O)trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who ^(P)went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, ^(Q)Simeon and Levi, ^(R)Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered 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 field. ²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ^(S)“You have brought trouble on me ^(T)by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, ^(U)the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ^(V)My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

God Blesses and Renames Jacob

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(W)Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you ^(X)when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his ^(Y)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(Z)the foreign gods that are among you and ^(AA)purify yourselves and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God ^(AB)who answers me in the day of my distress and ^(AC)has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under ^(AD)the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

⁵ And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ And Jacob came to ^(AE)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷ and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[c] because ^(AF)there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸ And ^(AG)Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.^[d]

⁹ God appeared^[e] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(AH)no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but ^(AI)Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. ¹¹ And God said to him, ^(AJ)“I am God Almighty:^[f] be ^(AK)fruitful and multiply. ^(AL)A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.^{[g] 12 (AM)}The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³ Then God ^(AN)went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴ And Jacob ^(AO)set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him ^(AP)Bethel.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance^[h] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for ^(AQ)you have another son.” ¹⁸ And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;^{[i] (AR)}but his father called him Benjamin.^{[j] 19} So ^(AS)Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to ^(AT)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰ and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is ^(AU)the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹ Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and ^(AV)lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³ The sons of Leah: ^(AW)Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷ And Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(AX)Mamre, or ^(AY)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. ²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last, and he died ^(AZ)and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And ^(BA)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

²⁴ And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^(A)fell down at his feet and ^(B)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(C)“Stand up; I too am a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^(D)to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^(E)God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, ^(F)“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^(G)the ninth hour,^[a] and behold, ^(H)a man stood before me in bright clothing ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, ^(I)your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^(J)God ^(K)shows no partiality, ³⁵ but ^(L)in every nation anyone who fears him and ^(M)does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for ^(N)the word that he sent to Israel, ^(O)preaching good news of ^(P)peace through Jesus Christ (^(Q)he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^(R)beginning ^(S)from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how ^(T)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^(U)with the Holy Spirit and with ^(V)power. He went about doing good and healing all ^(W)who were oppressed by the devil, ^(X)for God was with him. ³⁹ And ^(Y)we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^(Z)They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but ^(AA)God raised him on ^(AB)the third day and made him to ^(AC)appear, ^41 (AD)not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^(AE)witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(AF)he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^(AG)that he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^(AH)of the living and the dead. ^43 (AI)To him ^(AJ)all the prophets bear witness that ^(AK)everyone who believes in him receives ^(AL)forgiveness of sins ^(AM)through his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, ^(AN)the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And the believers from among ^(AO)the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^(AP)the gift of the Holy Spirit ^(AQ)was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(AR)speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ^47 (AS)“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AT)just as we have?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(AU)commanded them ^(AV)to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.