The Defiling of Dinah
1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the young women of that region. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3His heart was drawn to Dinah, daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.” 5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, Jacob kept silent until they returned. 6Then Hamor, Shechem’s father, went out to speak with Jacob. 7Meanwhile Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter — a thing that should not be done. 8But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem’s heart is set on your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9Intermarry with us — give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You may live among us; the land is open to you. Settle here, trade freely, and acquire property in it.” 11Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give whatever you ask. 12Set the bride price and the gift as high as you like, and I will pay whatever you ask of me. Only give me the girl as my wife.”
The Deceptive Bargain
13Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully. 14They said to them, “We cannot do this — we cannot give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15We will agree to this only on one condition: that you become like us by circumcising every male among you. 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our sister and go.” 18Their proposal pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man did not hesitate to do what they asked, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. And he was the most honored of all his father’s household. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men there: 21“These men are friendly toward us. Let them live in the land and trade in it — the land is certainly large enough for them. We can take their daughters as wives and give them our daughters. 22But the men will agree to live with us and become one people with us only on this condition: that every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Let us simply agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.” 24All the men who went out through the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised — everyone who went out through the city gate.
The Massacre at Shechem
25On the third day, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, boldly entered the city, and killed every male. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and left. 27The rest of Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled there. 28They took the flocks and herds and donkeys, everything in the city and everything in the fields. 29They carried off all their wealth, all their women and children, and everything else in the houses. 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me. You have made me a stench to the people of this land, to the Canaanites and Perizzites. My men are few in number, and if they band together against me and attack me, I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31But they answered, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
