Beginning
Judah and Tamar
38 About that time, Judah ·left [L went down from] his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah in the town of Adullam [C a Canaanite city nine miles northwest of Hebron]. 2 There Judah met a Canaanite girl, the daughter of a man named Shua, and married her. Judah ·had sexual relations with [L went to] her, 3 and she ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to a son, whom Judah named Er. 4 Later she gave birth to another son and named him Onan. 5 Still later she had another son and named him Shelah. She was at Kezib [C “deceiving”; a town near Adullam; probably the same as Aczib; Josh. 15:44] when this third son was born.
6 Judah ·chose [L took] a girl named Tamar to be the wife of his ·first son [firstborn] Er. 7 But Er, Judah’s ·oldest son [firstborn], did ·what the Lord said was evil [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord] so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and have sexual relations with your dead brother’s wife. It is your duty to ·provide children for your brother in this way [L raise up a seed for your brother; Deut. 25:5–10].”
9 But Onan knew that the ·children [L seed] would not belong to him, so when he ·was supposed to have sexual relations with [L he went to] Tamar he ·did not complete the sex act [L spilled his seed on the ground], ·making it impossible for Tamar to become pregnant and for Er to have descendants [L so that he did not give a descendant/seed to his brother]. 10 ·The Lord was displeased by this wicked thing Onan had done [L What he did was evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], so he killed Onan also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “·Go back to live in your father’s house, and don’t marry [L Remain a widow in your father’s house] until my young son Shelah grows up.” Judah was afraid that Shelah also would die like his brothers. So Tamar returned to her father’s home.
12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah ·had gotten over his sorrow [L was comforted], he went to Timnah [C a town south of Hebron] to his ·men who were cutting the wool from his sheep [L sheepshearers]. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him. 13 Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep. 14 So she took off the clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a veil ·to hide who she was [L and wrapped herself up; C perhaps indicating a woman was a prostitute; see v. 15]. Then she sat down by the gate of Enaim on the road to Timnah. She did this because Judah’s younger son Shelah had grown up, but Judah had not ·made plans for her to marry him [given her to him as a wife].
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face with a veil. 16 So Judah went to her [L on the road side/way] and said, “Let me ·have sexual relations with [L come to] you.” He did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.
She asked, “What will you ·give [pay] me if I let you ·have sexual relations with [L come to] me?”
17 Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”
She answered, “First give me ·something to keep as a deposit [a pledge] until you send the goat.”
18 Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as a ·deposit [pledge]?”
Tamar answered, “Give me your ·seal [signet] and its cord, and give me your ·walking stick [staff; C all items that could identify a person].” So Judah gave these things to her. Then ·Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and Tamar became pregnant [L he went to her and she conceived]. 19 When ·Tamar went home [L she got up and went], she took off the veil that covered her face and put on the clothes that showed she was a widow.
20 Judah sent his friend ·Hirah [L the Adullamite; 38:1] with the young goat to find the woman and get back his ·seal [signet] and the ·walking stick [staff] he had given her, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some of the people at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute [C perhaps indicating a temple prostitute connected to a fertility religion] who was here by the road?”
They answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.”
22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman, and the people who lived there said, ‘There has never been a prostitute here.’ ”
23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I sent her the goat as I promised, but you could not find her.”
24 About three months later someone told Judah, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, is guilty of acting like a prostitute, and now she ·is pregnant [has conceived].”
Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned to death.”
25 When ·the people went to bring Tamar out [L she was brought out], she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, “The man who owns these things has made me pregnant. Look at this ·seal [signet] and its cord and this ·walking stick [staff], and tell me whose they are.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more ·in the right [righteous] than I. She did this because I did not give her to my son Shelah as I promised.” And Judah did not ·have sexual relations with [L know; 4:1] her again.
27 When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her ·body [L womb]. 28 While she was ·giving birth [in labor], one baby put his hand out. The ·nurse [midwife] tied a ·red [crimson] string on his hand and said, “This baby came out first.” 29 But he pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. The nurse said, “·So you are able to break out first [or What a breach you have made],” and they named him Perez [C sounds like “break out” in Hebrew]. 30 After this, the baby with the red string on his hand was born, and they named him Zerah [C shining/brightness, perhaps referring to the red string].
Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar was an officer to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] and the chief butcher [37:36]. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph [C indicating a covenant relationship], and he ·became a successful man [prospered]. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3 Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord made Joseph ·successful [prosperous] in everything he did. 4 So ·Potiphar was very happy with Joseph [L Joseph found grace/favor in his eyes] and allowed him to ·be his personal servant [attend him]. He put Joseph in charge of the house, trusting him with everything he owned. 5 When Joseph was put in charge of the house and everything Potiphar owned, the Lord blessed the ·people in Potiphar’s [L the Egyptian’s] house because of Joseph. And the Lord blessed everything that belonged to Potiphar, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left Joseph in charge of everything he owned and was not concerned about anything except the food he ate.
Joseph Is Put into Prison
Now Joseph was ·well built [L pleasing in figure/form] and ·handsome [L pleasing in appearance]. 7 After ·some time [L these things] the wife of Joseph’s master ·began to desire [cast her eyes on; L lifted her eyes to] Joseph, and one day she said to him, “·Have sexual relations [L Lie] with me.”
8 But Joseph refused and said to ·her [L his master’s wife], “My master ·trusts me with [L has no concern with me about] everything in his house. He has put me in charge of everything he owns. 9 There is no one in his house greater than I. He has not kept anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God [Ex. 20:14; Prov. 5–7].”
10 The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he ·refused [L did not listen to/obey her] to ·have sexual relations with [L lie beside] her or even spend time with her.
11 One day Joseph went into the house to do his work as usual and was the only man in the house at that time. 12 His master’s wife grabbed his coat and said to him, “Come and ·have sexual relations [L lie] with me.” But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran ·out of the house [L outside].
13 When she saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hands and had run outside, 14 she called to the ·servants in [L the men of] her house and said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to ·shame [insult; sport with] us. He came in and tried to ·have sexual relations [L lie] with me, but I screamed. 15 ·My scream scared him and [L When he heard me raise my voice and call out] he ran away, but he left his coat with me.” 16 She kept his coat until her ·husband [master] came home, 17 and she told him the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here came in to ·shame [insult; make sport of] me! 18 When he came near me, I ·screamed [L raised my voice]. He ·ran away [fled], but he left his coat.”
19 When Joseph’s master heard what his wife said Joseph had done, he became very angry. 20 So Potiphar arrested Joseph and put him into the ·prison [L round house] where the king’s prisoners were ·put [L confined]. And Joseph stayed there in the ·prison [L round house].
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him ·kindness [loyalty; love] and ·caused the prison warden to like Joseph [L gave him favor in the eyes of the chief jailer]. 22 The ·prison warden [chief jailer] chose Joseph to take care of all the prisoners, and he was responsible for whatever was done in the prison [39:20]. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made him ·successful [prosper] in everything he did.
Joseph Interprets Two Dreams
40 After these things happened, two of the king of Egypt’s officers ·displeased [offended; sinned against] the king—·the man who served wine [cupbearer] to the king and the king’s baker [C two important positions in the king’s court]. 2 ·The king [L Pharaoh] became angry with his ·officer who served him wine and his [chief cupbearer and chief] baker, 3 so he put them in the prison of the chief butcher [37:36], the same ·prison [L round house] where Joseph was ·kept [confined]. 4 The chief butcher [37:36] put the two prisoners in Joseph’s care, and they stayed in prison for some time.
5 One night both the king’s ·officer who served him wine and the [L cupbearer and] baker had a dream. Each had his own dream with its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw they were ·worried [troubled]. 7 He asked ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] officers who were with him, “Why ·do you look so unhappy [do you look so bad; L are your faces bad/evil] today?”
8 The two men answered, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can explain their meaning to us.”
Joseph said to them, “·God is the only One who can explain the meaning of dreams [L Does not interpretation belong to God?]. Tell me your dreams.”
9 So the ·man who served wine to the king [chief cupbearer] told Joseph his dream. He said, “I dreamed I saw a vine, and 10 on the vine were three branches. I watched the branches bud and blossom, and then the [L cluster of] grapes ripened. 11 I was holding ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] cup, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I gave ·it to [L the cup into the palm of] ·the king [L Pharaoh].”
12 Then Joseph said, “·I will explain the dream to you [L This is its interpretation]. The three branches stand for three days. 13 Before the end of three days the king will ·free you [L lift up your head], and he will allow you to return to your work. You will ·serve the king his wine just as you did before [give the cup into the hand of Pharaoh according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer]. 14 But when ·you are free [L it goes well for you], remember me. Be ·kind [loyal] to me, and ·tell the king about me [recall me to the king] so I can get out of this ·prison [L house]. 15 I was ·taken by force [stolen; snatched] from the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing here to deserve being put in ·prison [L the pit; dungeon].”
16 The [L chief] baker saw that ·Joseph’s explanation of the dream [L the interpretation] was ·good [favorable], so he said to him, “I also had a dream. I dreamed there were three bread baskets on my head. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked food for ·the king [L Pharaoh], but the birds were eating this food out of the basket on my head.”
18 Joseph answered, “·I will tell you what the dream means [L This is its interpretation]. The three baskets stand for three days. 19 Before the end of three days, the king will ·cut off your head [L lift up your head; v. 13]! He will hang your body on a ·pole [L tree], and the birds will eat your flesh.”
20 Three days later, on his birthday, ·the king [L Pharaoh] gave a ·feast [banquet] for all his ·officers [L servants]. In front of his ·officers [L servants], he ·released from prison the chief officer who served his wine and the chief baker [L he lifted the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker]. 21 The king gave his chief ·officer who served wine [cupbearer] his old position, and once again he put the ·king’s cup of wine [L cup] into ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] hand. 22 But the king hanged the baker on a ·pole, just as Joseph had said he would [L tree according to the interpretation of Joseph]. 23 But the ·officer who served wine [chief cupbearer] did not remember Joseph. He forgot all about him.
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