1   Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the country, 2   and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite the local prince, saw her; he took her, lay with her and dishonoured her. 3   But he remained true to Jacob's daughter Dinah; he loved the girl and comforted her. 4   So Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me this girl for a wife.’ 5   When Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the herds in the open country, so he said nothing until they came home. 6   Meanwhile Shechem's father Hamor came out to Jacob to discuss it with him. 7   When Jacob's sons came in from the country and heard, they were grieved and angry, because in lying with Jacob's daughter he had done what the Israelites held to be an outrage, an intolerable thing. 8   Hamor appealed to them in these terms: ‘My son Shechem is in love with this girl; I beg you to let him have her as his wife. 9   Let us ally ourselves in marriage; you shall give us your daughters, and you shall take ours in exchange. 10   You must settle among us. The country is open to you; make your home in it, move about freely and acquire land of your own.’ 11   And Shechem said to the girl's father and brothers, ‘I am eager to win your favour and I will give whatever you ask. 12   Fix the bride-price and the gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask; but you must give me the girl in marriage.’

13   Jacob's sons gave a dishonest reply to Shechem and his father Hamor, laying a trap for them because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah: 14   ‘We cannot do this,’ they said; ‘we cannot give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised; for we look on that as a disgrace. 15   There is one condition on which we will consent: if you will follow our example and have every male among you circumcised, 16   we will give you

Jacob and Esau our daughters and take yours for ourselves. Then we can live among you, and we shall all become one people. 17   But if you refuse to listen to us and be circumcised, we will take the girl and go away.’ 18   Their proposal pleased Hamor and his son Shechem; 19   and the young man, who was held in respect above anyone in his father's house, did not hesitate to do what they had said, because his heart was taken by Jacob's daughter.

20   So Hamor and Shechem went back to the city gate and addressed their fellow-citizens: 21   ‘These men are friendly to us; let them live in our country and move freely in it. The land has room enough for them. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours. 22   But these men will agree to live with us and become one people on this one condition only: every male among us must be circumcised as they have been. 23   Will not their herds, their livestock, and all their chattels then be ours? We need only consent to their condition, and then they are free to live with us.’ 24   All the able-bodied ^note men agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every single one of them was circumcised, every able-bodied male. 25   Then two days later, while they were still in great pain, Jacob's two sons Simeon and Levi, full brothers to Dinah, armed themselves with swords, boldly entered the city and killed every male. 26   They cut down Hamor and his son Shechem and took Dinah from Shechem's house and went off with her. 27   Then Jacob's other ^note sons came in over the dead bodies and plundered the city, to avenge their sister's dishonour. 28   They seized flocks, cattle, asses, and everything, both inside the city and outside in the open country; 29   they also carried off all their possessions, their dependants, and their women, and plundered everything in the houses.

30   Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me, you have made my name stink among the people of the country, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few; if they muster against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, I and my household with me.’ 31   They answered, ‘Is our sister to be treated as a common whore?’

Previous section

Next section