Judah and Tamar

38 Now it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain ^(A)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(B)Shua; and he took her and went in to her. ³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he named him ^(C)Er. ⁴ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she named him ^(D)Onan. ⁵ And she bore still another son, and she named him ^(E)Shelah; and it was at Chezib ^[a]that she bore him.

⁶ Then 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 Yahweh, so Yahweh put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “^(G)Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother.” ⁹ And Onan knew that the ^(H)seed would not be his; and it happened that when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted it on the ground in order not to give seed to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of Yahweh; so He ^(I)put him to death also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^(J)Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ^[b]thought, “I am afraid lest he also die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² And ^[c]after a considerable time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Then Judah was comforted, and he went up to his sheepshearers at ^(K)Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ Then it was told to Tamar, “^[d]Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^(L)Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she removed her widow’s garments from herself and ^(M)covered herself with a ^[e]veil and wrapped herself. And she sat at the entrance of ^[f]Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^(N)she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ Then Judah saw her, and he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here now, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷ He said, therefore, “I will send you a ^[g]young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” ¹⁸ Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^(O)Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she arose and went. And she removed her ^[h]veil from herself and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰ Then Judah sent the ^[i]young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. ²¹ So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” ²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her ^[j]keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. Behold, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴ Now it happened about three months later that it was told to Judah saying, “^[k]Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^(P)let her be burned!” ²⁵ It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.” And she said, “^(Q)Please recognize this and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” ²⁶ And Judah recognized them and said, “^(R)She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as ^(S)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ^[l]know her again.

²⁷ Now it happened at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^(T)twins in her womb. ²⁸ And it happened, while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ And then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. So she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^[m](U)Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^[n](V)Zerah.