Genesis chapter 34 The Defiling of Dina Now Dina the daughter of Leia, whom she had born to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her, and lay with her, and humiliated her. And his soul was drawn to Dina the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, Get me this girl for my wife. Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dina, but his sons were with his livestock in the field. So Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter for such a thing must not be done. But Hamor spoke with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it. Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me for as great a bride price, and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give the young woman to be my wife. The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dina. They said to them, We cannot do this thing. To give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition will we agree with you, that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and we will be gone. Their words pleased Hamor, and Hamor's son Shechem. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honoured of all of his father's house, so Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying, These men are at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people, when every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property, and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us. And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dina's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure, and killed all the males. They killed Hamor, and they killed his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dina out of Shechem's house and went away. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the field. All their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Parasites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household, but they said, Should he treat our sister like a prostitute? Genesis chapter 35 God blesses and renames Jacob God said to Jacob, Arise, go to Bethel and dwell there, make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. So Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments, then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress, and has been with me wherever I have gone. So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the Turrabinth tree that was near Shechem, and as they journeyed a tear from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to loose, that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brothers, and Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel, so he called its name Alon Bakuth. God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Peytonerum and blessed him, and God said to him, Your name is Jacob, no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. So he called his name Israel, and God said to him, I am God Almighty, beat fruitful and multiply, a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body, the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you. Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him, and Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it, so Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel. The deaths of Rachel and Isaac. Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ifrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had a hard labor, and when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, for you have another son. And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she called his name Benani, but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ifrath, that is Bethlehem, and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Aeter. While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve, the sons of Leia, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ezekhar, and Zebulun, the sons of Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, Dan, and Naftali, the sons of Zilpha, Leah's servant, God, and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him, and paid a nairam. Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kyriath Arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years, and Isaac breathed his last, and he died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Matthew chapter 12 verses 46 through 50. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 17. The parable of the sower. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying, A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and in the middle of the sea, and immediately they sprung up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some, a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. The Purpose of the Parables Then the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered them, To you it has been given, to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given, for to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, You will indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. But bluster your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear, for truly I say to you many prophets and righteous people, long to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Psalm 13 How long, O Lord, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God, light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemies say, I have prevailed over him, lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken, but I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
