Study Desk

And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the cattle are my cattle, and all things which thou seest are mine, and the property of my daughters; what shall I do to them to-day, or their children which they bore?

And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones; and they gathered stones and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap; and Laban said to him, This heap witnesses between me and thee to-day.

And he offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren, and they ate and drank, and slept in the mountain.

And Esau ran on to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they both wept.

And Jacob heard that the son of Emmor had defiled Dina his daughter (now his sons were with his cattle in the plain). And Jacob was silent until they came.

And the sons of Jacob came from the plain; and when they heard, the men were deeply pained, and it was very grievous to them, because the man wrought folly in Israel, having lain with the daughter of Jacob, and so it must not be.

And the sons of Jacob answered to Sychem and Emmor his father craftily, and spoke to them, because they had defiled Dina their sister.

And shall not their cattle and their herds, and their possessions, be ours? only in this let us conform to them, and they will dwell with us.

And all that went in at the gate of their city hearkened to Emmor and Sychem his son, and they were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin every male.

And it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Symeon and Levi, Dina’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city securely, and slew every male.

And they slew Emmor and Sychem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dina out of the house of Sychem, and went forth.

But the sons of Jacob came upon the wounded, and ravaged the city wherein they had defiled Dina their sister.

And their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses they took, and all things whatsoever were in the city, and whatsoever were in the plain.

And they took captive all the persons of them, and all their store, and their wives, and plundered both whatever things there were in the city, and whatever things there were in the houses.

And Jacob said to Symeon and Levi, Ye have made me hateful so that I should be evil to all the inhabitants of the land, both among the Chananites and the Pherezites, and I am few in number; they will gather themselves against me and cut me in pieces, and I shall be utterly destroyed, and my house.

And they said, Nay, but shall they treat our sister as an harlot?

And they gave to Jacob the strange gods, which were in their hands, and the ear-rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the turpentine tree which is in Secima, and destroyed them to this day.

So Israel departed from Secima, and the fear of God was upon the cities round about them, and they did not pursue after the children of Israel.

And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed be lord over us? And they hated him still more for his dreams and for his words.

And he said, I am seeking my brethren; tell me where they feed their flocks.