Genesis 34

1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the people of the land. 2 And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Horite, the ruler of the land, saw her — and he took her and lay with her, and humiliated her. [a] 3 And he was drawn to the soul of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He loved the girl, and he spoke kindly to her. 4 And Shechem spoke to Hamor his father, saying, “Get me this girl as a wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that the son of Hamor had defiled his daughter Dinah — but his sons were out in the plain with his cattle, and Jacob kept silent until they came. 6 And Hamor, Shechem’s father, went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 When Jacob’s sons came in from the plain and heard, the men were cut to the heart, and it grieved them deeply — because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter. Such a thing must not be.

8 And Hamor spoke to them, saying, “My son Shechem has set his heart on your daughter. Give her to him as a wife, 9 and intermarry with us: give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your sons. 10 Live among us — look, the land is wide open before you. Settle in it, trade in it, gain property in it.” 11 And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes — and whatever you name, we will give. 12 Set the bride-price as high as you like, and I will give whatever you tell me. Only give me the girl as a wife.” 13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke so, because they had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, sons of Leah, said to them, “We cannot do this thing — give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised — for it is a disgrace to us. 15 Only on these terms will we agree with you and live among you: if you become as we are, and every male of you is circumcised. 16 Then we will give you our daughters, and take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live with you and be one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughters and go.” [b] 18 Their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem the son of Hamor. 19 And the young man lost no time in doing the thing, for he was deeply attached to Jacob’s daughter — and he was the most honored of all his father’s house.

20 So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are peaceable. Let them live in the land with us and trade in it — look, the land is broad before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters. 22 Only on these terms will the men agree to live with us and be one people: every male among us must be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 And won’t their cattle and their herds and their possessions be ours? Only let us agree with them in this, and they will live with us.” 24 And all who went out at the gate of the city listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And on the third day, when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came into the city unopposed — and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor, and Shechem his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out. 27 Then the sons of Jacob came upon the wounded and plundered the city where their sister Dinah had been defiled. 28 Their sheep and their oxen and their donkeys they took — everything in the city, and everything in the plain. 29 And they carried off all their people and all their goods, and their wives, and plundered whatever was in the city and whatever was in the houses. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have made me hated — made me an evil thing to all the people of this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number: they will band together against me and cut me down, and I will be destroyed, and my house with me.” 31 But they said, “Should they treat our sister like a prostitute?”