Genesis 38:1-11

New American Standard Bible

Judah and Tamar

38 And it came about at that time, that Judah ^[a]departed from his brothers and ^[b]visited a certain ^(A)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(B)Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her. ³ And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him ^(C)Er. ⁴ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she named him ^(D)Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and named him ^(E)Shelah; and it was at Chezib ^[c]that she gave birth to him.

⁶ Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But ^(F)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “^(G)Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a ^[d]child for your brother.” ⁹ Now Onan knew that the ^[e](H)child would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he ^[f]wasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give ^[g]a child to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^(I)took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^(J)Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ^[h]thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.