¹ And it cometh to pass, in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he taketh to him a wife, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah;

² and commit whoredom against him doth his concubine, and she goeth from him unto the house of her father, unto Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there days -- four months.

³ And her husband riseth and goeth after her, to speak unto her heart, to bring her back, and his young man [is] with him, and a couple of asses; and she bringeth him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman seeth him, and rejoiceth to meet him.

⁴ And keep hold on him doth his father-in-law, father of the young woman, and he abideth with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there.

⁵ And it cometh to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he riseth to go, and the father of the young woman saith unto his son-in-law, `Support thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye go on.'

⁶ And they sit and eat both of them together, and drink, and the father of the young woman saith unto the man, `Be willing, I pray thee, and lodge all night, and let thy heart be glad.'

⁷ And the man riseth to go, and his father-in-law presseth on him, and he turneth back and lodgeth there.

⁸ And he riseth early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman saith, `Support, I pray thee, thy heart;' and they have tarried till the turning of the day, and they eat, both of them.

⁹ And the man riseth to go, he and his concubine, and his young man, and his father-in-law, father of the young woman, saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, the day hath fallen toward evening, lodge all night, I pray thee; lo, the declining of the day! lodge here, and let thine heart be glad -- and ye have risen early to-morrow for your journey, and thou hast gone to thy tent.'

¹⁰ And the man hath not been willing to lodge all night, and he riseth, and goeth, and cometh in till over-against Jebus (It [is] Jerusalem), and with him [are] a couple of asses saddled; and his concubine [is] with him.

¹¹ They [are] near Jebus, and the day hath gone greatly down, and the young man saith unto his lord, `Come, I pray thee, and we turn aside unto this city of the Jebusite, and lodge in it.'

¹² And his lord saith unto him, `Let us not turn aside unto the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel, thither, but we have passed over unto Gibeah.'

¹³ And he saith to his young man, `Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.'

¹⁴ And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goeth in upon them near Gibeah, which is to Benjamin;

¹⁵ and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goeth in and sitteth in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge.

¹⁶ And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man [is] of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he [is] a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place [are] Benjamites.

¹⁷ And he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the man, the traveller, in a broad place of the city, and the aged man saith, `Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?'

¹⁸ And he saith unto him, `We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah unto the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim -- thence I [am], and I go unto Beth-Lehem-Judah; and to the house of Jehovah I am going, and there is no man gathering me into the house,

¹⁹ and both straw and provender are for our asses, and also bread and wine there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants; there is no lack of anything.'

²⁰ And the old man saith, `Peace to thee; only, all thy lack [is] on me, only in the broad place lodge not.'

²¹ And he bringeth him in to his house, and mixeth [food] for the asses, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink.

²² They are making their heart glad, and lo, men of the city, men -- sons of worthlessness -- have gone round about the house, beating on the door, and they speak unto the old man, the master of the house, saying, `Bring out the man who hath come unto thine house, and we know him.'

²³ And the man, the master of the house, goeth out unto them, and saith unto them, `Nay, my brethren, do not evil, I pray you, after that this man hath come in unto my house, do not this folly;

²⁴ lo, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine, let me bring them out, I pray you, and humble ye them, and do to them that which is good in your eyes, and to this man do not this foolish thing.'

²⁵ And the men have not been willing to hearken to him, and the man taketh hold on his concubine, and bringeth [her] out unto them without, and they know her, and roll themselves upon her all the night, till the morning, and send her away in the ascending of the dawn;

²⁶ and the woman cometh in at the turning of the morning, and falleth at the opening of the man's house, where her lord [is], till the light.

²⁷ And her lord riseth in the morning, and openeth the doors of the house, and goeth out to go on his way, and lo, the woman, his concubine, is fallen at the opening of the house, and her hands [are] on the threshold,

²⁸ and he saith unto her, `Rise, and we go;' and there is none answering, and he taketh her on the ass, and the man riseth and goeth to his place,

²⁹ and cometh in unto his house, and taketh the knife, and layeth hold on his concubine, and cutteth her in pieces to her bones -- into twelve pieces, and sendeth her into all the border of Israel.

³⁰ And it hath come to pass, every one who seeth hath said, `There hath not been -- yea, there hath not been seen like this, from the day of the coming up of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt till this day; set your [heart] upon it, take counsel, and speak.'

¹ And Dinah, daughter of Leah, whom she hath borne to Jacob, goeth out to look on the daughters of the land,

² and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the land, seeth her, and taketh her, and lieth with her, and humbleth her;

³ and his soul cleaveth to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and he loveth the young person, and speaketh unto the heart of the young person.

⁴ And Shechem speaketh unto Hamor his father, saying, `Take for me this damsel for a wife.'

⁵ And Jacob hath heard that he hath defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob kept silent till their coming.

⁶ And Hamor, father of Shechem, goeth out unto Jacob to speak with him;

⁷ and the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard, and the men grieve themselves, and it [is] very displeasing to them, for folly he hath done against Israel, to lie with the daughter of Jacob -- and so it is not done.

⁸ And Hamor speaketh with them, saying, `Shechem, my son, his soul hath cleaved to your daughter; give her, I pray you, to him for a wife,

⁹ and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves,

¹⁰ and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade [in] it, and have possessions in it.'

¹¹ And Shechem saith unto her father, and unto her brethren, `Let me find grace in your eyes, and that which ye say unto me, I give;

¹² multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.'

¹³ And the sons of Jacob answer Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and they speak (because he defiled Dinah their sister),

¹⁴ and say unto them, `We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to one who hath a foreskin: for it [is] a reproach to us.

¹⁵ `Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised,

¹⁶ then we have given our daughters to you, and your daughters we take to ourselves, and we have dwelt with you, and have become one people;

¹⁷ and if ye hearken not unto us to be circumcised, then we have taken our daughter, and have gone.'

¹⁸ And their words are good in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son;

¹⁹ and the young man delayed not to do the thing, for he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he is honourable above all the house of his father.

²⁰ And Hamor cometh -- Shechem his son also -- unto the gate of their city, and they speak unto the men of their city, saying,

²¹ `These men are peaceable with us; then let them dwell in the land, and trade [in] it; and the land, lo, [is] wide before them; their daughters let us take to ourselves for wives, and our daughters give to them.

²² `Only for this do the men consent to us, to dwell with us, to become one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as they are circumcised;

²³ their cattle, and their substance, and all their beasts -- are they not ours? only let us consent to them, and they dwell with us.'

²⁴ And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem his son, hearken do all those going out of the gate of his city, and every male is circumcised, all those going out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ And it cometh to pass, on the third day, in their being pained, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, take each his sword, and come in against the city confidently, and slay every male;

²⁶ and Hamor, and Shechem his son, they have slain by the mouth of the sword, and they take Dinah out of Shechem's house, and go out.

²⁷ Jacob's sons have come in upon the wounded, and they spoil the city, because they had defiled their sister;

²⁸ their flock and their herd, and their asses, and that which [is] in the city, and that which [is] in the field, have they taken;

²⁹ and all their wealth, and all their infants, and their wives they have taken captive, and they spoil also all that [is] in the house.

³⁰ And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, `Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I [am] few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.'

³¹ And they say, `As a harlot doth he make our sister?'