Study Desk

Now Jacob had word of what Shechem had done to his daughter; but his sons were in the fields with the cattle, and Jacob said nothing till they came.

But Hamor said to them, Shechem, my son, is full of desire for your daughter: will you then give her to him for a wife?

But the sons of Jacob gave a false answer to Shechem and Hamor his father, because of what had been done to Dinah their sister.

But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes circumcision;

But if you will not undergo circumcision as we say, then we will take our daughter and go.

But these men will make an agreement with us to go on living with us and to become one people, only on the condition that every male among us undergoes circumcision as they have done.

But on the third day after, before the wounds were well, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came into the town by surprise and put all the males to death.

But they said, Were we to let him make use of our sister as a loose woman?

Jacob is your name, but it will be so no longer; from now your name will be Israel; so he was named Israel.

And in the hour when her life went from her (for death came to her), she gave the child the name Ben-oni: but his father gave him the name of Benjamin.

And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?

And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.

But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;

But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.

Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.

And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.

But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother.

She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife.

Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there.

And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.