The Defiling of Dinah
1. Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.
2. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and raped her.
3. And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
4. So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
5. Now Jacob had 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.
6. Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.
7. And Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard the news. They were deeply grieved and very angry because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8. So Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, “My son Shechem is deeply in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.
9. Enter into marriage with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.
10. Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
11. Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I will give you whatever you ask.
12. Demand of me a high bridal price and gift, and I will give you whatever you ask; only give me the young woman as my wife.”
The Revenge of Dinah’s Brothers
13. Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah.
14. They said to them, “We cannot do this thing; we cannot give our sister to an uncircumcised man, for that would be a disgrace to us.
15. We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.
16. Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves; and we will live with you and become one people.
17. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18. Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem,
19. and the young man did not delay to do this, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than anyone in his father’s house.
20. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to their fellow citizens:
21. “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about freely, for indeed, the land is spacious enough for them. We can take their daughters as our wives, and we can give them our daughters.
22. But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on this condition: if all our males are circumcised as they are.
23. Won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will settle among us.”
24. All who went out of the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25. On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
26. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away.
27. Then Jacob’s other sons came upon the slain and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled.
28. They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, everything in the city and in the field.
29. They captured all their wealth, their little ones, and their wives, and they plundered everything in the houses.
30. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me, making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
31. But they answered, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”