²⁵ On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,^(A) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,^(A) making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,^(B) the Canaanites and the Perizzites.^(C) We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”^(D)

²⁶ And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him. ²⁷ He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”^{(A) 28} The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people. ²⁹ Afterward Moses said, “Today you have been dedicated^[a] to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today.”^(B)

⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to the priest Aaron to assist him.