The Treachery of Jacob’s Sons
1Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land. 2When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force. 3He was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young girl for a wife.” 5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in. 6Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.
8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. 9Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. 10Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you; live and trade in it and acquire property in it.” 11Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me. 12Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl in marriage.”
13But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14They 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. 15Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you be circumcised, 16then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18Now their words seemed reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21“These men are friendly with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them. 22Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us.” 24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the city unawares, and killed every male. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went forth. 27Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; 29and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even all that was in the houses. 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and attack me and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” 31But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”
8He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
20for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
1) How does Micah summarize covenant faithfulness?
2) How does James challenge us to live out the Word?
3) What step of obedience can you take today?
Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters
1Then Job answered,
2“I have heard many such things;
Sorry comforters are you all.
3Is there no limit to windy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?
4I too could speak like you,
If I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.
5I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.
Job Says God Shattered Him
6“If I speak, my pain is not lessened,
And if I hold back, what has left me?
7But now He has exhausted me;
You have laid waste all my company.
8You have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness;
And my leanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9His anger has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with His teeth;
My adversary glares at me.
10They have gaped at me with their mouth,
They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have massed themselves against me.
11God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12I was at ease, but He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.
13His arrows surround me.
Without mercy He splits my kidneys open;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
14He breaks through me with breach after breach;
He runs at me like a warrior.
15I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
And thrust my horn in the dust.
16My face is flushed from weeping,
And deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
18“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.
19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And my advocate is on high.
20My friends are my scoffers;
My eye weeps to God.
21O that a man might plead with God
As a man with his neighbor!
22For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.
The Sin and Treachery of Judah
1“At that time,” declares the Lord, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. 2They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground. 3And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the Lord of hosts.
4“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Do men fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not repent?
5Why then has this people, Jerusalem,
Turned away in continual apostasy?
They hold fast to deceit,
They refuse to return.
6I have listened and heard,
They have spoken what is not right;
No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his course,
Like a horse charging into the battle.
7Even the stork in the sky
Knows her seasons;
And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush
Observe the time of their migration;
But My people do not know
The ordinance of the Lord.
8“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has made it into a lie.
9The wise men are put to shame,
They are dismayed and caught;
Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom do they have?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others,
Their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit.
11They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They certainly were not ashamed,
And they did not know how to blush;
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,”
Says the Lord.
13“I will surely snatch them away,” declares the Lord;
“There will be no grapes on the vine
And no figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf will wither;
And what I have given them will pass away.” ’ ”
14Why are we sitting still?
Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities
And let us perish there,
Because the Lord our God has doomed us
And given us poisoned water to drink,
For we have sinned against the Lord.
15We waited for peace, but no good came;
For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;
At the sound of the neighing of his stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and devour the land and its fullness,
The city and its inhabitants.
17“For behold, I am sending serpents against you,
Adders, for which there is no charm,
And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.
18My sorrow is beyond healing,
My heart is faint within me!
19Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
20“Harvest is past, summer is ended,
And we are not saved.”
21For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;
I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
9“Now, why do you cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your counselor perished,
That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?
10Writhe and labor to give birth,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will go out of the city,
Dwell in the field,
And go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
There the Lord will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
11And now many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, ‘Let her be polluted,
And let our eyes gloat over Zion.’
12But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
And they do not understand His purpose;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion,
For your horn I will make iron
And your hoofs I will make bronze,
That you may pulverize many peoples,
That you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.