The young man’s father said, “Please think about the good that can come from this. My son loves your daughter. Let them get married. We’ll then give you our daughters to marry, and we’ll become one people.” 

Shechem said, “I’ll do whatever you ask if you’ll allow me to marry Dinah.” 

Jacob’s sons thought of a plan to get revenge. They said, “We can’t give you our women because your men aren’t circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. The only way we could agree to your terms is if every man in your city was circumcised. If you agree to this, we’ll give you Dinah and take your daughters as our wives. But if you refuse to do this, we will take Dinah and leave.” 

Shechem and his father were happy with these terms. They went back to the city and met with all the men. They explained the agreement and then said, “This is a great deal for us. They have a lot of possessions. In time, it will all be ours. All we have to do is be circumcised.” 

All the men agreed and were immediately circumcised. Three days later, they were still in great pain. Two of Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, went into the city and totally caught the men by surprise. Systemically, they killed them all with swords. They also killed Shechem and his father and took Dinah from their house. 

Afterwards, the other brothers went and plundered the city. They looted every house and all the fields. They took the women and children, their possessions, and all the livestock. 

Jacob was shocked when he found out about this. He said to Simeon and Levi, “You’ve caused this whole land to turn against us. Once news of this gets out, all the surrounding towns will come at us with a mighty force and totally destroy us.” 

They said, “What choice did we have? They can’t treat our sister like a prostitute.” 

God said to Jacob, “Hurry! Go to Bethel. Build an altar at the spot I appeared to you when you were running from Esau.” 

So Jacob then gave instructions to his family and all the people with him. He said, “Purify your hearts and get rid of all your idols. We’re going to Bethel, and I’m going to build an altar to God. He has always helped me wherever I’ve gone.” 

So the people gave him all their false gods and earrings. Jacob hid them under an oak near the town of Shechem. 

They then went to Bethel, where Jacob built an altar. God sent a terror over the cities around them, so they were afraid to attack Jacob and his sons. God met with him and gave him all the promises of Abraham. 

Afterwards they left Bethel and moved south. Along the way, Rachel died giving birth to her son Benjamin. She was buried near Bethlehem.