One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 69
49
let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you
whatever you ask. 12 No matter what dowry or
gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give
me the girl as my wife.”
13 But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully
to Shechem and his father, Hamor. 14 They said
to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a
disgrace for our sister to marry a man like
you! 15 But here is a solution. If every man
among you will be circumcised like we are,
16 then we will give you our daughters, and
we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We
will live among you and become one people.
17 But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we
will take her and be on our way.”
18 Hamor and his son She
chem agreed to
their proposal. 19 Shechem wasted no time in
acting on this request, for he wanted Jacob’s
daughter desperately. Shechem was a highly
respected member of his family, 20 and he went
with his father, Hamor, to p
resent this proposal to the leaders at the town gate.
21 “These men are our friends,” they said.
“Let’s invite them to live here among us and
trade freely. Look, the land is large enough
to hold them. We can take their daughters
as wives and let them marry ours. 22 But they
will consider staying here and becoming one
people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. 23 But if we do this,
all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms
and let them settle here among us.”
24 So all the men in the town council agreed
with Hamor and Shechem, and e very male in
the town was circumcised. 25 But three days
later, when their wounds were still sore, two
of Jacob’s sons, Simeo
n and Levi, who were
Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and
entered the town without opposition. Then
they slaughtered e very male there, 26 including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed
them with their swords, then took Dinah
from Shechem’s house and returned to their
camp.
27 Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been
defiled there. 28 They seized all the flocks and
herds and d
onkeys—everything they could
lay their hands on, both inside the town and
outside in the fields. 29 They looted all their
wealth and plundered their houses. They also
took all their little children and wives and led
them away as captives.
30 Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,
January 16
“You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink
among all the people of this land—among all
the C
anaanites and Perizzites. We are so few
that they will join forces and crush us. I will
be ruined, and my entire household will be
wiped out!”
31 “But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
32:28 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and
“deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.” 32:31 Hebrew Penuel,
a variant spelling of Peniel. 33:19 Hebrew 100 kesitahs;
the value or weight of the kesitah is no longer known.
33:20 El-Elohe-Israel means “God, the God of I srael.”
34:7 Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel.
MATTHEW 11:7‑30
As John’s disciples were leaving, J esus began
talking about him to the crowds. “What kind
of man did you go into the wilderness to see?
Was he a weak reed, swayed by e very breath
of wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man
dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with
expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you
looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more
than a prophet. 10 John is the man to whom
the Scriptures refer when they say,
‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead
of you,
and he will prepare your way before
you.’*
11 “I
tell you the truth, of all who have ever
lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.
Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of
Heaven is greater than he is! 12 And from the
time John the Baptist began preaching until
now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing,* and violent people are attacking it. 13 For before John came, all the
prophets and the law of Moses looked forward
to this present time. 14 And if you are willing
to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the
prophets said would come.* 15 Anyone with
ears to hear should listen and understand!
16 “To what can I compare this generation?
It is like children playing a game in the public
square. They complain to their friends,
17
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t mourn.’
18 For
John didn’t spend his time eating and
drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a
demon.’ 19 The Son of Man,* on the other hand,
feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton
and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors
and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be
right by its results.”
