Genesis 34–35

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”

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel^o and settle there, and build an altar^p there to God,^q who appeared to you^r when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”^s

²So Jacob said to his household^t and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods^u you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.^{v 3}Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,^w who answered me in the day of my distress^x and who has been with me wherever I have gone.^y” ⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,^z and Jacob buried them under the oak^a at Shechem.^{b 5}Then they set out, and the terror of God^c fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.^d

⁶Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz^e (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.^{f 7}There he built an altar,^g and he called the place El Bethel,^ah because it was there that God revealed himself to himⁱ when he was fleeing from his brother.^j

⁸Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,^k died and was buried under the oak^l outside Bethel.^m So it was named Allon Bakuth.^b

⁹After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,^cn God appeared to him again and blessed him.^{o 10}God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,^d but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.^e”^p So he named him Israel.

¹¹And God said to him, “I am God Almighty^f;^q be fruitful and increase in number.^r A nation^s and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.^{t 12}The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.^u”^{v 13}Then God went up from him^w at the place where he had talked with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a stone pillar^x at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering^y on it; he also poured oil on it.^{z 15}Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.^ga

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

35:23–26pp—1Ch 2:1–2

¹⁶Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,^b Rachel^c began to give birth and had great difficulty. ¹⁷And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife^d said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”^{e 18}As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.^hf But his father named him Benjamin.^ig

¹⁹So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath^h (that is, Bethlehemⁱ). ²⁰Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day^j that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.^k

²¹Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.^{l 22}While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine^m Bilhah,ⁿ and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

²³The sons of Leah:^o

Reuben the firstborn^p of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah,^q Issachar and Zebulun.^r

²⁴The sons of Rachel:

Joseph^s and Benjamin.^t

²⁵The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:^u

Dan and Naphtali.^v

²⁶The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:^w

Gad^x and Asher.^y

These were the sons of Jacob,^z who were born to him in Paddan Aram.^a

²⁷Jacob came home to his father Isaac^b in Mamre,^c near Kiriath Arba^d (that is, Hebron),^e where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.^{f 28}Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.^{g 29}Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people,^h old and full of years.ⁱ And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.^j