Genesis 34

¹Forsothe Dyna, the douytir of Lya, yede out to se the wymmen of that cuntrey.

²And whanne Sichem, the sone of Emor Euey, the prince of that lond, hadde seyn hir, he louede hir, and rauyschide, and sclepte with hir, and oppresside the virgyn bi violence.

³And his soule was boundun faste with hir, and he pleside hir sory with flateringis.

⁴And he yede to Emor,

⁵his fadir, and seide, Take to me this damysel a wijf. And whanne Jacob hadde herd this thing, while the sones weren absent, and ocupied in the fedyng of scheep, he was stille, til thei camen ayen.

⁶Sotheli whanne Emor, the fadir of Sichem, was gon out, `that he schulde speke to Jacob, lo!

⁷hise sones camen fro the feeld. And whanne this thing that bifelde was herd, thei weren wroothe greetli; for he wrouyte a foul thing in Israel, and he hadde do a thing vnleueful in the defoulyng of the douyter of Jacob.

⁸And so Emor spak to hem, The soule of my sone Sichem cleuyde to youre douytir, yeue ye hir a wijf to hym,

⁹and ioyne we weddyngis to gidere; yyue ye youre douytris to vs,

¹⁰and take ye oure douytris, and dwelle ye with vs; the lond is in youre power, tile ye, make ye marchaundise, and welde ye it.

¹¹But also Sichem seide to the fadir and britheren of hir, Fynde Y grace bifor you, and what euer thingis ye ordeynen Y schal yyue;

¹²encreesse ye the dower, and axe ye yiftis, Y schal yyue wilfull that that ye axen; oonli yyue ye this damysele a wijf to me.

¹³The sones of Jacob answeriden in gile to Sichem and his fadir, and weren feerse for the defoulyng of maidenhod of the sistir,

¹⁴We moun not do this that ye axen, nether we moun yyue oure sistir to a man vncircumcidid, which thing is vnleueful and abhomynable anentis vs.

¹⁵But in this we schulen mowe be boundun in pees, if ye wole be lijk vs, and ech of male kynde be circumcidid in you,

¹⁶thanne we schulen yyue and take togidre oure douytris and youre; and we schulen dwelle with you, and we schulen be o puple.

¹⁷Forsothe if ye nylen be circumcidid, we schulen take oure douytir, and schulen go a wei.

¹⁸The profryng of hem pleside Emor and Sichem,

¹⁹his sone, and the yong wexynge man dilaiede not, that ne he fillide anoon that that was axid, for he louede the damysele greetli, and he was noble in al `the hous of his fadir.

²⁰And thei entriden in to the yate of the citee, and spaken to the puple,

²¹These men ben pesible, and wolen dwelle with vs; make thei marchaundie in the loond, and tile thei it, which is large and brood, and hath nede to tileris; we schulen take her douytris to wyues, and we schulen yyue oure douytris to hem.

²²O thing is, for which so greet good is dilaied; if we circumciden oure malis, and suen the custom of the folc,

²³bothe her substaunce, and scheep, and alle thingis which thei welden, schulen be oure; oneli assente we in this, that we dwelle to gidere, and make o puple.

²⁴And alle men assentiden, and alle malis weren circumcidid.

²⁵And lo! in the thridde day, whanne the sorewe of woundis was moost greuous, twei sones of acob, Symeon and Leuy, britheren of Dyna, token swerdis, and entriden in to the citee booldeli; and whanne alle malis weren slayn,

²⁶thei killiden Emor and Sichem togidere, and token Dyna, her sistir, fro the hous of Sichem.

²⁷And whanne thei weren goon out, othere sones of Jacob felden in on the slayn men, and rifeliden the citee for the veniaunce of defoulyng of a virgyn.

²⁸And thei wastiden the scheep of tho men, and droues of oxun, and assis, and alle thingis that weren in howsis and feeldis,

²⁹and ledden prisoneris the litle children, and wyues of tho men.

³⁰And whanne these thingis weren don hardili, Jacob seide to Symeon and Leuy, Ye han troblid me, and han maad me hateful to Cananeis and Fereseis, dwellers of this lond; we ben fewe, thei schulen be gaderid to gidere and schulen sle me, and Y schal be don a wey and myn hous.

³¹Symeon and Leuy answeriden, Whether thei ouyten mysuse oure sistir as an hoore?

Genesis 34

¹And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

²And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

³And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

⁴And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

⁵And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

⁶And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

⁷And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

⁸And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.

⁹And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

¹⁰And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

¹¹And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.

¹²Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.

¹³And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

¹⁴And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:

¹⁵But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;

¹⁶Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

¹⁷But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

¹⁸And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.

¹⁹And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

²⁰And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

²¹These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

²²Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.

²³Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

²⁴And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

²⁶And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.

²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,

²⁹And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

³⁰And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

³¹And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?