创世记 38
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
犹大与她玛
38 那时，犹大离开了他的兄弟们，到亚杜兰人希拉的家里住。 2 他在那里遇见了迦南人书亚的女儿，就娶她为妻，与她同房。 3 她怀孕生了一个儿子，犹大给他取名叫珥。 4 她又怀孕生了一个儿子，给他取名叫俄南。 5 她再次怀孕生了一个儿子，给他取名叫示拉。示拉是在基悉出生的。
6 犹大给长子珥娶了她玛为妻。 7 耶和华见珥行为邪恶，就取走了他的性命。 8 犹大对俄南说：“你要与哥哥的妻子她玛同房，向她尽你做弟弟的本分，好替你哥哥传宗接代。” 9 俄南知道生了儿子也不归自己，所以每次与她玛同房都把精液遗在地上，免得给他哥哥留后。 10 耶和华见俄南行为邪恶，就取走了他的性命。 11 犹大恐怕示拉会像他的两个哥哥一样死去，就对儿媳她玛说：“示拉还没有长大，你先回娘家守寡吧。”
12 多年后，犹大的妻子，即书亚的女儿死了，等到守丧的日子满了，犹大就和他的朋友亚杜兰人希拉去亭拿，到替他剪羊毛的人那里。 13 有人告诉她玛说：“你公公到亭拿去剪羊毛了。” 14 她玛见示拉已经长大，却仍然没有娶她，就脱下寡妇的衣服，蒙上脸，换了装束，坐在去亭拿路上的伊拿印城门口。 15 犹大看见她蒙着脸，以为她是妓女， 16 就走过去对她说：“你陪我睡觉吧。”犹大不知道她是自己的儿媳妇。她玛问道：“你要我陪你睡觉，你给我什么呢？” 17 犹大回答说：“我会从羊群中取一只山羊羔送给你。”她玛问道：“羊还没有送来以前，你给我什么作抵押呢？” 18 犹大问：“你要什么作抵押呢？”她玛说：“我要你的印、印带和你的手杖。”犹大给了她，然后跟她睡觉。她玛就这样怀了孕。 19 事后，她起来走了。她拿掉蒙脸的布，仍旧穿上寡妇的装束。
20 犹大托他的朋友亚杜兰人送去一只山羊羔，要从那女人手中换回抵押物，却找不到她。 21 他的朋友就问当地的人：“伊拿印路旁的庙妓在哪里？”他们回答说：“这里没有庙妓。” 22 他的朋友只好回去对犹大说：“我找不着她，当地人说那里没有庙妓。” 23 犹大说：“让她留着我的东西吧，免得我们成为笑柄。反正我把羊送过去了，只是你找不到她。”
24 大约过了三个月，有人告诉犹大说：“你的儿媳妇她玛不守妇道，并且怀孕了。”犹大说：“把她拉出来烧死！” 25 他们正要把她拉出来，她请人带口信给他公公，说：“这些东西的主人使我怀了孕，请你看这印、印带和杖是谁的？” 26 犹大认出是自己的东西，就说：“她比我更有理，因为我没有让示拉娶她。”犹大没有再与她睡觉。
27 她玛临产的时候，才知道腹中是一对双胞胎。 28 生产的时候，一个婴儿先伸出手来，接生婆就把一条红线系在他的手上，说：“他是先出生的。” 29 可是那婴儿随后却把手缩回去，另一个婴儿先出生了，接生婆说：“你怎么抢先出来了？”因此，他的名字叫法勒斯[a]。 30 后来，那个手上系有红线的孩子也出生了，给他取名叫谢拉[b]。
Genesis 38
Evangelical Heritage Version
Judah and Tamar
38 About that time Judah went down from his brothers and visited a man from Adullam named Hirah. 2 There Judah saw a daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He took her as a wife and went to her. 3 She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to yet another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to Shelah.
6 Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar. 7 It turned out that Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord killed him.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go to your brother’s wife. Perform your duty for her as the brother of her deceased husband and provide offspring[a] for your brother.” 9 Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he went to his brother’s wife, he wasted his semen on the ground, so that he would not provide offspring for his brother. 10 But the thing that he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord killed him also.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah is grown up.” Actually he had said to himself, “I do not want him to die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
12 After some time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 She took off the garments that identified her as a widow, covered herself with her veil, disguised herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah, because she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not going to be given to him as a wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her by the roadside and said, “Please, let me come to you,” because he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
She said, “What will you give me, so that you may come to me?”
17 He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”
She said, “Will you give me something as a security deposit until you send the goat?”
18 He said, “What should I give you as a deposit?”
She said, “Your stamp seal on its cord and your staff that is in your hand.”
He gave them to her and went to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she got up and left. Later she took off her veil and put her widow’s garments back on.
20 Judah sent the young goat with his friend, the Adullamite, to get back the deposit from the woman’s possession, but he could not find her. 21 So he asked the men from that place, “Where is the sacred prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?”
They said, “There hasn’t been any sacred prostitute here.”
22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and the men of the place said, ‘There hasn’t been any sacred prostitute here.’”
23 Judah said, “Let her keep it, so that we are not disgraced. Look, I did send this young goat, but you were unable to find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has prostituted herself, and even worse, she is pregnant by prostitution.”
Judah said, “Bring her out and burn her.”
25 When she was brought, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “Please help me identify whose these are—this stamp seal on its cord and the staff.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah, my son.” But he was not intimate with her again.
27 When the time came for her to go into labor, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. 28 When she was in labor, one of the twins put out a hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But then after he had pulled back his hand, his brother came out first, so she said, “What a breakthrough you made for yourself!” That is why he was named Perez.[b] 30 Afterward his brother who had the scarlet thread on his hand came out, so he was named Zerah.[c]
Footnotes
- Genesis 38:8 Literally seed, which alludes both to semen and to the child that is produced from it
- Genesis 38:29 Perez means breaking out.
- Genesis 38:30 Zerah means scarlet.
Genesis 38
The Message
38 1-5 About that time, Judah separated from his brothers and went to stay with a man in Adullam named Hirah. While there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua. He married her, they went to bed, she became pregnant and had a son named Er. She got pregnant again and had a son named Onan. She had still another son; she named this one Shelah. They were living at Kezib when she had him.
6-7 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar. But Judah’s firstborn, Er, grievously offended God and God took his life.
8-10 So Judah told Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother’s widow; it’s the duty of a brother-in-law to keep your brother’s line alive.” But Onan knew that the child wouldn’t be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s widow he spilled his semen on the ground so he wouldn’t produce a child for his brother. God was much offended by what he did and also took his life.
11 So Judah stepped in and told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow at home with your father until my son Shelah grows up.” He was worried that Shelah would also end up dead, just like his brothers. So Tamar went to live with her father.
12 Time passed. Judah’s wife, Shua’s daughter, died. When the time of mourning was over, Judah with his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah for the sheep shearing.
13-14 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law has gone to Timnah to shear his sheep.” She took off her widow’s clothes, put on a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. She realized by now that even though Shelah was grown up, she wasn’t going to be married to him.
15 Judah saw her and assumed she was a prostitute since she had veiled her face. He left the road and went over to her. He said, “Let me sleep with you.” He had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law.
16 She said, “What will you pay me?”
17 “I’ll send you,” he said, “a kid goat from the flock.”
She said, “Not unless you give me a pledge until you send it.”
18 “So what would you want in the way of a pledge?”
She said, “Your personal seal-and-cord and the staff you carry.”
He handed them over to her and slept with her. And she got pregnant.
19 She then left and went home. She removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.
20-21 Judah sent the kid goat by his friend from Adullam to recover the pledge from the woman. But he couldn’t find her. He asked the men of that place, “Where’s the prostitute that used to sit by the road here near Enaim?”
They said, “There’s never been a prostitute here.”
22 He went back to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. The men there said there never has been a prostitute there.”
23 Judah said, “Let her have it then. If we keep looking, everyone will be poking fun at us. I kept my part of the bargain—I sent the kid goat but you couldn’t find her.”
24 Three months or so later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law has been playing the whore—and now she’s a pregnant whore.”
Judah yelled, “Get her out here. Burn her up!”
25 As they brought her out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, “I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things. Identify them, please. Who’s the owner of the seal-and-cord and the staff?”
26 Judah saw they were his. He said, “She’s in the right; I’m in the wrong—I wouldn’t let her marry my son Shelah.” He never slept with her again.
27-30 When her time came to give birth, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one put his hand out; the midwife tied a red thread on his hand, saying, “This one came first.” But then he pulled it back and his brother came out. She said, “Oh! A breakout!” So she named him Perez (Breakout). Then his brother came out with the red thread on his hand. They named him Zerah (Bright).
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