³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth.

⁵ If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.^(A)

⁴ He slept with Hagar,^(A) and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.^(B)

² so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.^(A) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”^(B)

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

⁴ The Nephilim^(A) were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans^(B) and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.^(C)

Cain and Abel

4 Adam^[a] made love to his wife^(A) Eve,^(B) and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.^[b](C) She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth^[c] a man.”

¹⁴ she took off her widow’s clothes,^(A) covered herself with a veil^(B) to disguise herself, and then sat down^(C) at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.^(D) For she saw that, though Shelah^(E) had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute,^(F) for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Not realizing^(G) that she was his daughter-in-law,^(H) he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”^(I)

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?”^(J) she asked.

¹⁷ “I’ll send you a young goat^(K) from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge^(L) until you send it?” she asked.

¹⁸ He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal^(M) and its cord, and the staff^(N) in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.^{(O) 19} After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes^(P) again.

²⁰ Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite^(Q) in order to get his pledge^(R) back from the woman, but he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute^(S) who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

²² So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has,^(T) or we will become a laughingstock.^(U) After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”

Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”^(V)

²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”^(W)

²⁶ Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I,^(X) since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.^(Y)” And he did not sleep with her again.

²⁷ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.^{(Z) 28} As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife^(AA) took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist^(AB) and said, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out,^(AC) and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.^{[a](AD) 30} Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist,^(AE) came out. And he was named Zerah.^[b](AF)

⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”^{(A) 9} But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.