Genesis 34–35

DINAH DEFILED

34Leah’s daughter^k Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. ²When Shechem—son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain—saw her, he took her and raped her. ³He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her.^{A 4}“Get me this girl as a wife,”^l he told his father.

⁵Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. ⁶Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. ⁷Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter,^m and such a thing should not be done.

⁸Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your^B daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”

¹¹Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor,^C and I’ll give you whatever you say. ¹²Demand of me a high compensation^D and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”

¹³But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴“We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. ¹⁵We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.^{n 16}Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. ²⁰So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city^a and spoke to the men of their city.

²¹“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. ²²But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. ²³Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.”

²⁴All the men^b who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. ²⁵On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,^c Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. ²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,^d making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,^e the Canaanites and the Perizzites.^f We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”^g

³¹But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

RETURN TO BETHEL

35God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there.^h Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”ⁱ

²So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you.^j Purify yourselves and change your clothes.^{k 3}We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress.^l He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”^m

⁴Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. ⁵When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.^{n 6}So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel^o) in the land of Canaan. ⁷Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel^A because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah,^p died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.^C

⁹God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.”^q So he named him Israel. ¹¹God also said to him, “I am God Almighty.^r Be fruitful and multiply.^s A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you,^t and kings will descend from you.^{Du 12}I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac.^v And I will give the land to your future descendants.” ¹³Then God withdrew^Ew from him at the place where he had spoken to him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.^{x 15}Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

RACHEL’S DEATH

¹⁶They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. ¹⁷During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.”^{y 18}With her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni,^F but his father called him Benjamin.^{G 19}So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem^z). ²⁰Jacob set up a marker on her grave; it is the marker at Rachel’s grave still today.

ISRAEL’S SONS

²¹Israel set out again and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.^{A 22}While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.^a

Jacob had twelve sons:^b

²³Leah’s sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn),

Simeon, Levi, Judah,

Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴Rachel’s sons were

Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah

were Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah

were Gad and Asher.

These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

ISAAC’S DEATH

²⁷Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre^c in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron^d), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ²⁸Isaac lived 180 years. ²⁹He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people,^e old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.