< Genesis 34 >

1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the women in that area.
2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her.
Shechem, one of the sons of Hamor, the ruler of that area who was descended from the Hiv people-group, saw her. He wanted her. So he grabbed her and forced her to have sex [EUP] with him.
3 And his soul fastened on Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden, and spoke consolingly to the maiden.
He [SYN] was very much attracted to her, and fell in love with her, and he tried to get her to love him.
4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, Take me this girl as wife.
So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Please get this girl for me. I want her to become my wife!”
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his cattle in the fields, and Jacob said nothing until they came.
Jacob very soon found out that his daughter Dinah had been disgraced/defiled. But his sons were in the fields with his livestock, so he did nothing about it until they returned home.
6 And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob, to speak to him.
In the meantime, Shechem’s father Hamor went to talk with Jacob.
7 And the sons of Jacob came from the fields when they heard [it]; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had wrought what was disgraceful in Israel, in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done.
While they were still talking, Jacob’s sons came in from the field. When they found out what had happened, they were shocked and very angry. They said, “Shechem has done something that is very disgraceful among us Israeli people, something that never should be done!”
8 And Hamor spoke to them, saying, My son Shechem's soul cleaves to your daughter: I pray you, give her to him as wife.
But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem really likes this girl. Please allow him to marry her.
9 And make marriages with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you.
Let’s make an agreement: You will give your daughters to our young men to be their wives, and we will give our daughters to your young men to be their wives.
10 And dwell with us, and the land shall be before you: dwell and trade in it, and get yourselves possessions in it.
You can live among us, and live anywhere in our land that you wish. You can buy and sell things (OR, travel around) and if you find land that you want, then you can buy it.”
11 And Shechem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me find favour in your eyes; and what ye shall say to me I will give.
Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “If you feel good toward me and do what I am asking for, I will give you whatever you ask for.
12 Impose on me very much as dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say to me; but give me the maiden as wife.
Tell me what gifts you want and what bride price you want, and I will give you what you ask for. I just want you to give the girl to me to be my wife.”
13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and spoke — because he had defiled Dinah their sister —
But because Shechem had done a shameful thing to their sister Dinah, the sons of Jacob deceived Shechem and his father Hamor
14 and said to them, We cannot do this, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach to us.
by saying to them, “No, we cannot do that. We cannot give our sister to be the wife of a man who is not circumcised, because that would be a shameful thing for us to do.
15 But only in this will we consent to you, if ye will be as we, that every male of you be circumcised;
We will do that only if you do one thing: You must become like us by circumcising all the males that are among you.
16 then will we give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and be one people.
Then we will give our daughters to your young men to be your wives, and we will take your daughters to be the wives of our young men. We will live among you, and we will become one people-group.
17 But if ye do not hearken to us, to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and go away.
But if you will not agree to being circumcised, we will take our sister and go back to our land.”
18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
What they said pleased Hamor and his son Shechem.
19 And the youth did not delay to do this, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honourable above all in the house of his father.
Shechem was very much in love with Jacob’s daughter, so he quickly agreed to do what they suggested.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
Shechem went with Hamor to the meeting place near the city gate, and they spoke to the city leaders, saying,
21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it. And the land — behold, it is of wide extent before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters.
“These men are friendly toward us. We should let them live here and travel around (OR, buy and sell things) and if they find land that they want, they can buy it. There is plenty of land for them to live here. Our young men can marry their daughters, and their young men can marry our daughters.
22 But only in this will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to be one people — if every male among us be circumcised, just as they are circumcised.
But these men will agree to live among us and become one people-group with us only if all our males are circumcised, as they are.
23 Their cattle, and their possessions, and every beast of theirs, shall they not be ours? only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.
But if we do that, just think! Their livestock and their possessions and their other animals will become ours [RHQ]! So we should agree to do what they suggest, and then they will live among us!”
24 And all that went out at the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised — all that went out at the gate of his city.
Shechem was the most respected person in his father’s household, so all the men who were there at the city gate agreed to what Hamor and Shechem suggested. So every male in the city was circumcised.
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
On the third day after that, when the men of the city were still sore because of being circumcised, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and entered the city without anyone opposing them, and killed all the men.
26 And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew with the edge of the sword; and took Dinah out of Shechem's house; and went out.
They even killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left the city.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Then the other sons of Jacob went into the city where all those dead bodies were. They (looted/took everything in) the city to get revenge for the shameful thing that had been done to their sister.
28 Their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and what [was] in the city, and what [was] in the field they took;
They took away the people’s sheep and goats, their cattle, their donkeys, and everything else that they wanted from inside the city and from out in the countryside.
29 and all their goods, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and plundered them, and all that was in the houses.
They took away everything that was valuable, even the children and the women. They seized and took away everything that was in the houses.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, in that ye make me odious among the inhabitants of the land — among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I am few men in number, and they will gather themselves against me and smite me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused a lot of trouble for me! Now the Canaan people-group and the Perizzi people-group and everyone else who lives in this land will (hate me/say my name stinks)! I do not have many men to fight for us, so if they all gather together and come to me and attack us, they will destroy us and all our household!”
31 And they said, Should people deal with our sister as with a harlot?
But they replied, “(Should we have allowed Shechem to treat our sister like a prostitute?/We could not just let Shechem treat our sister like a prostitute!)” [RHQ]

< Genesis 34 >