Genesis 33-34

New King James Version

Jacob and Esau Meet

33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, ^(A)Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ² And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ Then he crossed over before them and ^(B)bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

^4 (C)But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^(D)and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

So he said, “The children ^(E)whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(F)all this company which I met?”

And he said, “These are ^(G)to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I ^(H)have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹ Please, take ^(I)my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^(J)graciously with me, and because I have ^[a]enough.” ^(K)So he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, ^[b]are able to endure, until I come to my lord ^(L)in Seir.”

¹⁵ And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

But he said, “What need is there? ^(M)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to ^(N)Succoth, built himself a house, and made ^[c]booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called ^[d]Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan

¹⁸ Then Jacob came ^[e]safely to ^(O)the city of ^(P)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹ And ^(Q)he bought the parcel of ^[f]land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected an altar there and called it ^(R)El^[g] Elohe Israel.

The Dinah Incident

34 Now ^(S)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he ^(T)took her and lay with her, and violated her. ³ His soul ^[h]was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke ^[i]kindly to the young woman. ⁴ So Shechem ^(U)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵ And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob ^(V)held^[j] his peace until they came. ⁶ Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he ^(W)had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, ^(X)a thing which ought not to be done. ⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹ And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. ¹⁰ So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me ever so much ^(Y)dowry^[k] and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³ But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke ^(Z)deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴ And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is ^(AA)uncircumcised, for ^(AB)that would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵ But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

¹⁸ And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was ^(AC)more honorable than all the household of his father.

²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the ^(AD)gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: ²¹ “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who ^(AE)went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, ^(AF)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. ²⁶ And they ^(AG)killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, ²⁹ and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ^(AH)“You have ^(AI)troubled me ^(AJ)by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; ^(AK)and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”