Simeon and Levi Kill the Men of Shechem
1Dinah was the daughter Leah had by Jacob. Dinah went out to visit the women of the land. 2Hamor, the Hivite, was the ruler of that area. When his son Shechem saw Dinah, he took her and raped her. 3Then he longed for Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He fell in love with her and spoke tenderly to her. 4Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me that young woman. I want her to be my wife.”
5Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been raped. 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. 7Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields. They came as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and very angry. Shechem had done a very terrible thing. He had forced Jacob’s daughter to have sex with him. He had done something that should never be done in Israel.
8But Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, “My son Shechem wants your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9Let your people and ours get married to each other. Give us your daughters as our wives. You can have our daughters as your wives. 10You can live among us. Here is the land. Live in it. Trade in it. Buy property in it.”
11Then Shechem spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. He said, “I want to please you. I’ll give you anything you ask for. 12Make the price for the bride as high as you want to. I’ll pay you whatever you ask. Just give me the young woman. I want to marry her.”
13Their sister Dinah had been raped. So Jacob’s sons lied to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14They said to them, “We can’t do it. We can’t give our sister to a man who isn’t circumcised. That would bring shame on us. 15We’ll agree, but only on one condition. You will have to become like us. You will have to circumcise all your males. 16Then we’ll give you our daughters as your wives. And we’ll take your daughters as our wives. We’ll live among you and become one big family with you. 17But if you won’t agree to be circumcised, then we’ll take our sister and go.”
18Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man was the most honored of all his father’s family. He didn’t lose any time in doing what Dinah’s father and brothers had said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. They spoke to the other men there. 21“These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land. Let them trade in it. The land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters. And they can marry ours. 22But they will agree to live with us as one big family only on one condition. All our males must be circumcised, just as they are. 23Won’t their livestock and their property belong to us? Won’t all their animals become ours? So let’s say yes to them. Then they’ll live among us.”
24All the men who went out through the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised.
25Three days later, all of them were still in pain. Then Simeon and Levi took their swords. They were Jacob’s sons and Dinah’s brothers. They attacked the city when the people didn’t expect it. They killed every male. 26They also used their swords to kill Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27Jacob’s other sons found the dead bodies. They robbed the city where their sister had been raped. 28They took the flocks and herds and donkeys. They took everything in the city and in the fields. 29They carried everything away. And they took all the women and children. They took away everything in the houses.
30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me. Now I’m like a very bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live in this land. There aren’t many of us. They may join together against me and attack me. Then I and my family will be destroyed.”
31But they replied, “Should Shechem have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
Jakobs sønner hævner deres søster
1En dag gik Leas datter Dina ud for at besøge nogle af de unge piger, som boede der på stedet. 2Men da Sikem, der var søn af hivvitten Hamor, som var byens konge, fik øje på hende, greb han fat i hende og voldtog hende. 3Han blev dybt forelsket i hende og forsøgte at vinde hendes kærlighed. 4Han sagde derfor til sin far: „Den pige vil jeg giftes med! Hjælp mig med at få hende!”
5Jakob fik hurtigt at vide, at hans datter var blevet vanæret, men da hans sønner var ude for at passe dyrene, ville han ikke foretage sig noget, før de kom hjem igen.
6Sikems far, Hamor, begav sig på vej hen til Jakob sammen med sin søn for at få en aftale. 7Jakobs sønner var kommet hjem fra marken, så snart de hørte, hvad der var sket. De var chokerede og rasende over, at Sikem havde været så skamløs og voldtaget deres søster og derved havde bragt skam over hende og hele Jakobs familie. 8Hamor fremkom nu med sit ærinde over for dem: „Min søn Sikem er forelsket i din datter. Han kan slet ikke vente med at få hende til kone. Vær rar og lad ham gifte sig med hende!” 9-10Så tilføjede han: „I øvrigt vil jeg indbyde dig og dine folk til at slå jer ned her iblandt os, så jeres døtre kan gifte sig med vores sønner, og vores døtre med jeres sønner. I må slå jer ned, hvor I har lyst, og færdes frit iblandt os og blive velstående folk.”
11Sikem tog derefter ordet, og henvendt til Dinas far og brødre sagde han: „Vis mig godhed og lad mig gifte mig med Dina! Jeg vil give jer hvad som helst, I beder om! 12Uanset hvor stor en brudepris eller anden gave, I forlanger, er jeg villig til at betale—hvis I blot vil give mig pigen!”
13Men Dinas brødre gav Sikem og Hamor et listigt svar på grund af det, Sikem havde gjort imod deres søster. De sagde: 14„Det kan vi umuligt gå med til, for du er ikke omskåret. Det ville være en stor skam for en kvinde fra vores familie at gifte sig med en mand som dig. 15Men hvis alle jeres mænd vil blive omskåret som os, 16har vi ikke noget imod giftermål med jer. Så slår vi os gerne ned her og bliver ét med jer. 17Men hvis I ikke vil gå ind på det forslag, tager vi vores søster og rejser herfra.”
18Hamor og Sikem gik straks ind på forslaget. 19Sikem ville ingen tid spilde, for han var meget forelsket i Dina. Han var også den, der havde mest at sige i sin familie. 20Hamor og Sikem fremlagde nu forslaget for byens ledere, som samledes på pladsen ved byporten.
21„Disse folk er vores venner,” begyndte de. „Lad os indbyde dem til at slå sig ned iblandt os og leve af deres erhverv som alle andre. Landet er jo stort nok til at rumme dem, og deres unge og vores unge kan gifte sig med hinanden. 22Men de vil kun blive her på den betingelse, at alle vores mænd bliver omskåret, lige som de er. 23Hvis vi accepterer, bliver alle deres husdyr og anden ejendom i sidste ende vores. Lad os gå ind på deres betingelse, så de bliver boende hos os.”
24Forslaget blev accepteret, og alle mændene i byen blev omskåret. 25Men to dage senere, da de alle lå med feber og smerter, greb to af Dinas brødre, Simeon og Levi, deres sværd og gik uhindret ind i byen og dræbte samtlige mænd— 26deriblandt også Hamor og Sikem. Så hentede de Dina i Sikems hus og vendte tilbage til lejren med hende. 27Derefter gik alle Jakobs sønner ind og plyndrede byen, hvor deres søster var blevet voldtaget. 28De tog alle får og køer og æsler i byen og på markerne udenfor. 29Alt, der havde nogen værdi, tog de, og kvinderne og børnene tog de til fange.
30Men Jakob bebrejdede Simeon og Levi, hvad de havde gjort. „I har gjort mig meget upopulær!” sagde han. „Nu kan jeg takke jer for, at landets indbyggere, kana’anæerne og perizzitterne, er blevet mine fjender. Vi er jo ikke ret mange, så hvis de slår sig sammen og angriber os, er det ude med os.”
31„Synes du måske, at Sikem skulle have lov til at behandle vores søster som en luder?” indvendte de vredt.
