Genesis 34 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. 4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. 5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it : and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob' daughter; which thing ought not to be done. 8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. 9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. 10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. 11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. 12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. 13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: 14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: 15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be , that every male of you be circumcised; 16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. 18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor' son. 19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob' daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. 20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. 24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. 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' brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem' house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

New International Reader’s Version

Simeon and Levi kill the men of Shechem

1 Dinah was the daughter Leah had by Jacob. Dinah went out to visit the women of the land. 2 Hamor, the Hivite, was the ruler of that area. When his son Shechem saw Dinah, he took her and raped her. 3 Then he longed for Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He fell in love with her and spoke tenderly to her. 4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me that young woman. I want her to be my wife.’ 5 Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been raped. His sons were in the fields with his livestock. So he did nothing about it until they came home. 6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields. They came as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and very angry. Shechem had done a very terrible thing. He had forced Jacob’s daughter to have sex with him. He had done something that should never be done in Israel. 8 But Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, ‘My son Shechem wants your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Let your people and ours get married to each other. Give us your daughters as our wives. You can have our daughters as your wives. 10 You can live among us. Here is the land. Live in it. Trade in it. Buy property in it.’ 11 Then Shechem spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. He said, ‘I want to please you. I’ll give you anything you ask for. 12 Make the price for the bride as high as you want to. I’ll pay you whatever you ask. Just give me the young woman. I want to marry her.’ 13 Their sister Dinah had been raped. So Jacob’s sons lied to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, ‘We can’t do it. We can’t give our sister to a man who isn’t circumcised. That would bring shame on us. 15 We’ll agree, but only on one condition. You will have to become like us. You will have to circumcise all your males. 16 Then we’ll give you our daughters as your wives. And we’ll take your daughters as our wives. We’ll live among you and become one big family with you. 17 But if you won’t agree to be circumcised, then we’ll take our sister and go.’ 18 Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man was the most honoured of all his father’s family. He didn’t lose any time in doing what Dinah’s father and brothers had said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20 Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. They spoke to the other men there. 21 ‘These men are friendly towards us,’ they said. ‘Let them live in our land. Let them trade in it. The land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters. And they can marry ours. 22 But they will agree to live with us as one big family only on one condition. All our males must be circumcised, just as they are. 23 Won’t their livestock and their property belong to us? Won’t all their animals become ours? So let’s say yes to them. Then they’ll live among us.’ 24 All the men who went out through the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised. 25 Three days later, all of them were still in pain. Then Simeon and Levi took their swords. They were Jacob’s sons and Dinah’s brothers. They attacked the city when the people didn’t expect it. They killed every male. 26 They also used their swords to kill Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 Jacob’s other sons found the dead bodies. They robbed the city where their sister had been raped. 28 They took the flocks and herds and donkeys. They took everything in the city and in the fields. 29 They carried everything away. And they took all the women and children. They took away everything in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me. Now I’m like a very bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live in this land. There aren’t many of us. They may join together against me and attack me. Then I and my family will be destroyed.’ 31 But they replied, ‘Should Shechem have treated our sister like a prostitute?’