34:1 And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to look over¹ the daughters² of the land. 34:2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and lay with her³ and shamed her.⁴ 34:3 And he became very attached⁵ to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly⁶ to her.⁷ 34:4 And Shechem spoke to Hamor his father, saying, “Get this young girl for my wife.”⁸

34:5 When⁹ Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah¹⁰ his daughter, his sons were with the livestock in the field; so Jacob remained silent¹¹ until they came in.

34:6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 34:7 Now the sons of Jacob had come in from the field when they heard,¹² and the men were grieved and very angry,¹³ because he had done a disgraceful thing¹⁴ in Israel by lying¹⁵ with the daughter of Jacob, which ought not be done.¹⁶

34:8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Shechem is truly¹⁷ attached to¹⁸ your daughter; please give her to him for his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us.¹⁹ Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves. 34:10 And you may live²⁰ among us, and the land will be open to you.²¹ Live in it, travel freely in it,²² and acquire possessions in it.”

34:11 Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight and whatever you ask²³ I will give.²⁴ 34:12 Make the bride price and the gift very great for me, and I will give²⁵ whatever you ask²⁶ of me; but give me the young woman for a wife.”

34:13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully when they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 34:14 So they said to them, “We are not able to do this thing, to give²⁷ our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace²⁸ to us. 34:15 Only on this condition will we give our consent to you, that you become like us by circumcising²⁹ all your males. 34:16 Then we will give³⁰ you our daughters and we will take your daughters for ourselves; and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you will not respond³¹ to us by being circumcised, then we will take³² our sister³³ and depart.”

34:18 And their words were pleasing in the opinion³⁴ of Hamor and in the opinion³⁵ of Shechem the son of Hamor. 34:19 And the young man did not delay in doing³⁶ this thing, because he desired the daughter of Jacob. Now he was more important³⁷ than anyone in the house of his father.³⁸ 34:20 So Hamor and Shechem his son went to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, 34:21 “These men are peaceful with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough³⁹ for them. We can take their daughters for ourselves for wives, and our daughters we can give to them. 34:22 Only on this condition will the men give their consent to us to live with us to become one people, that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, so that they live among us.”

34:24 And all the men who went out of the city gate went along with⁴⁰ Hamor and Shechem his son; and every male who went out of the gate of his city was circumcised. 34:25 And⁴¹ in three days when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took swords⁴² and went to the city while it was feeling secure⁴³ and slew every male. 34:26 And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew by the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem, and left. 34:27 The sons of Jacob came on the slain and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.⁴⁴ 34:28 They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys and whatever was in the city and whatever was in the field; 34:29 and they captured as plunder⁴⁵ their wealth and all their little ones and their women and whatever was in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi, “You have brought ruin⁴⁶ on me by making stink⁴⁷ among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I⁴⁸ am few in number; and they will gather together against me and attack me and I and my household will be destroyed.”

34:31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”