Genesis 34

• 1. Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.
• 2. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.
• 3. His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
• 4. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife."
• 5. When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home.
• 6. Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.
• 7. Now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter-a thing that should not be done.
• 8. But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.
• 9. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.
• 10. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it."
• 11. Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask.
• 12. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife."
• 13. Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
• 14. They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.
• 15. We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.
• 16. Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you.
• 17. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go."
• 18. Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.
• 19. The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter.
• 20. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen.
• 21. "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.
• 22. But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are.
• 23. Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us."
• 24. All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
• 25. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
• 26. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left.
• 27. The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled.
• 28. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.
• 29. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
• 30. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."
• 31. But they replied, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"

Mark 5

• 1. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
• 2. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
• 3. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.
• 4. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
• 5. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
• 6. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.
• 7. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"
• 8. For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"
• 9. Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
• 10. "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
• 11. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
• 12. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them."
• 13. He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
• 14. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
• 15. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
• 16. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well.
• 17. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
• 18. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.
• 19. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."
• 20. So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
• 21. When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.
• 22. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet
• 23. and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live."
• 24. So Jesus went with him.
• 25. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.
• 26. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
• 27. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
• 28. because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."
• 29. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
• 30. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
• 31. "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'"
• 32. But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
• 33. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
• 34. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
• 35. While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"
• 36. Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
• 37. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
• 38. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.
• 39. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep."
• 40. But they laughed at him.
• 41. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ).
• 42. Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.
• 43. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Esther 10

• 1. King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores.
• 2. And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia?
• 3. Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

New International Version

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