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The Blue Letter Bible

Genesis 34 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Revenge against Shechem

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:1 - One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:2 - But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:3 - But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:4 - He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl. I want to marry her.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:5 - Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:6 - Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:7 - Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,[fn] something that should never be done.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:8 - Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:9 - In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:10 - And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:11 - Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:12 - No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:13 - But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:14 - They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you!

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:15 - But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:16 - then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:17 - But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:18 - Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:19 - Shechem wasted no time in acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly respected member of his family,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:20 - and he went with his father, Hamor, to present this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:21 - “These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:22 - But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:23 - But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:24 - So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:25 - But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there,

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:26 - including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:27 - Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:28 - They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:29 - They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:30 - Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land—among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 34:31

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 34:31 - “But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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Genesis Chapter 34 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras