Genesis 33–34

Jacob Meets Esau

33Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;^s so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.^{t 2}He put the female servants and their children^u in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph^v in the rear. ³He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground^w seven times^x as he approached his brother.

⁴But Esau^y ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.^z And they wept.^{a 5}Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.^b”

⁶Then the female servants and their children^c approached and bowed down.^{d 7}Next, Leah and her children^e came and bowed down.^f Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,^g and they too bowed down.

⁸Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”^h

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”ⁱ he said.

⁹But Esau said, “I already have plenty,^j my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,^k accept this gift^l from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,^m now that you have received me favorably.^{n 11}Please accept the present^o that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me^p and I have all I need.”^q And because Jacob insisted,^r Esau accepted it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord^s knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.^t If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds^u before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.^v”

¹⁵Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”^w

¹⁶So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.^{x 17}Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,^y where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.^a

¹⁸After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,^bz he arrived safely at the city of Shechem^a in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹For a hundred pieces of silver,^c he bought from the sons of Hamor,^b the father of Shechem,^c the plot of ground^d where he pitched his tent.^{e 20}There he set up an altar^f and called it El Elohe Israel.^d

Dinah and the Shechemites

34Now Dinah,^g the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ²When Shechem^h son of Hamorⁱ the Hivite,^j the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.^{k 3}His heart was drawn to Dinah^l daughter of Jacob;^m he lovedⁿ the young woman and spoke tenderly^o to her. ⁴And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”^p

⁵When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled,^q his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

⁶Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.^{r 7}Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked^s and furious,^t because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in^a Israel^u by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.^v

⁸But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.^{w 9}Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.^{x 10}You can settle among us;^y the land is open to you.^z Live in it, trade^b in it,^a and acquire property in it.^b”

¹¹Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,^c and I will give you whatever you ask. ¹²Make the price for the bride^d and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

¹³Because their sister Dinah had been defiled,^e Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully^f as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. ¹⁴They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised.^g That would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition^h only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.^{i 16}Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves.^j We’ll settle among you and become one people with you.^{k 17}But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

¹⁸Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹The young man, who was the most honored^l of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.^{m 20}So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their cityⁿ to speak to the men of their city. ²¹“These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it;^o the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.^{p 22}But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised,^q as they themselves are. ²³Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours?^r So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.^s”

²⁴All the men who went out of the city gate^t agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

²⁵Three days later, while all of them were still in pain,^u two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon^v and Levi,^w Dinah’s brothers, took their swords^x and attacked the unsuspecting city,^y killing every male.^{z 26}They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword^a and took Dinah^b from Shechem’s house and left. ²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city^c where^c their sister had been defiled.^{d 28}They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys^e and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.^{f 29}They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children,^g taking as plunder^h everything in the houses.ⁱ

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble^j on me by making me obnoxious^k to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land.^l We are few in number,^m and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

³¹But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?ⁿ”