Study Desk

But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.

But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words.

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.

But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob's sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor.

But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are,

But if you don't agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way."

But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are.

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."

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,

"But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?" they retorted angrily.

saying, "Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel." So God renamed him Israel.

Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense.

Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means "son of my sorrow"). The baby's father, however, called him Benjamin (which means "son of my right hand").

This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father's flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.

But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn't say a kind word to him.

This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. "What kind of dream is that?" he asked. "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?"

But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

"Yes," the man told him. "They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let's go on to Dothan.'" So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph's rescue. "Let's not kill him," he said.

His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "I will go to my grave mourning for my son," he would say, and then he would weep.