Beginning
38 And it came to pass at that time, that Yehudah went down from his achim, and turned in to an ish Adulami shmo Chirah.
2 And Yehudah saw there a bat ish Kena’ani shmo Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3 She conceived, and bore ben; and he called shmo Er.
4 And she conceived again, and bore ben; and she called shmo Onan.
5 And she yet again conceived, and bore ben; and called shmo Shelah; at Keziv, when she bore him.
6 And Yehudah took a wife for Er his bechor, whose shem was Tamar.
7 And Er, bechor Yehudah, was rah in the eyes of Hashem; and Hashem slaughtered him.
8 And Yehudah said unto Onan, Go in unto eshet achicha, and enter into levirate marriage with her, and raise up zera to achicha.
9 And Onan knew that the zera should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto eshet achiv, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give zera to achiv.
10 And the thing which he did was rah in the eyes of Hashem; therefore He slaughtered him also.
11 Then said Yehudah to Tamar his kallah, Remain an almanah at thy bais avi, till Shelah beni is grown; for he said, Lest he die also, as his achim did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her bais avi.
12 And in process of time the bat Shua, eshet Yehudah, died; and Yehudah was consoled, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his re’a Chirah the Adulami.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Hinei, thy kham (father-in-law) goeth up to Timnah to shear his tzon.
14 And she put off her widow’s garments from her, and covered her with a tze’if (veil), and disguised herself, and sat at the crossroads which is on the derech to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him as isha.
15 When Yehudah saw her, he thought her to be a zonah; because she had covered her face.
16 And he turned unto her by the derech, and said, Come now, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his kallah [daughter-in-law]). And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17 And he said, I will send thee a gedi izzim (kid of the goats). And she said, Wilt thou give me an ervon (pledge), till thou send it?
18 And he said, What ervon shall I give thee? And she said, Thy chotam (signet), and thy [signet neck] cord, and thy staff that is in thine yad. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19 And she arose, and went away, and took off her tze’if from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Yehudah sent the gedi izzim by the yad of his friend the Adulami, to get back his ervon from the yad haisha; but he found her not.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the kedesha (cult prostitute) that was on the crossroads by the derech? And they said, There was no kedesha in this place.
22 And he returned to Yehudah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no kedesha in this place.
23 And Yehudah said, Let her take for herself, lest we become buz (laughingstock); hinei, I sent this gedi, and thou hast not found her.
24 And it came to pass about shlosh chadashim (three months) later, that it was told Yehudah saying, Tamar thy kallah hath played the zonah; and also, hinei, she is with child by zenunim (whoredom). And Yehudah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burned.
25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her kham (father-in-law), saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child; and she said, Discern, now, whose are these, the chotam (signet), and the [signet neck] cord, and the staff.
26 And Yehudah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more tzadekah than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah beni. And he knew her again no more.
27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, hinei te’omim (twin boys) were in her beten.
28 And it came to pass, when she travailed in labor, that the one put out his yad; and the midwife took and bound upon his yad a scarlet thread, saying, This came out rishonah (first).
29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his yad, that, hinei, his brother came out; and she said, How hast paratzta (thou broken out)? This paretz (breach, breaking) be upon thee; therefore shmo was called Peretz [Breaking out].
30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his yad; and shmo was called Zerach.
39 And Yosef was brought down to Mitzrayim; and Potiphar, a saris Pharaoh, Sar Hatabachim (captain of the bodyguard), a Mitzri, bought him of the hands of the Yishme’elim, which had brought him down to there.
2 And Hashem was with Yosef, and he was an ish matzliach (a man [G-d] makes prosper); and he was in the bais adonav haMitzri.
3 And adonav saw that Hashem was with him, and that Hashem caused all that he did matzliach in his yad.
4 And Yosef found chen in his eyes, and he ministered to him; and he made him mefake’ach (overseer) over his bais, and all that he had he entrusted into his yad.
5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him mefake’ach (overseer) in his bais, and over all that he had, that Hashem put a brocha on the bais haMitzri on account of Yosef; and the birkat Hashem was upon all that he had in the bais, and in the sadeh.
6 And he left all that he had in the yad Yosef; and he knew not ought he had, save the lechem which he did eat. And Yosef was yafeh to’ar (well built) and yafeh mareh (good looking).
7 And it came to pass after these things, that eshet adonav cast her eyes upon Yosef; and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused, and said unto eshet adonav, Look, with me [here], adoni knows not what is in the bais, and he hath entrusted all that he hath to my yad;
9 There is none gadol in this bais than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me except thee only, because thou art his isha; how then can I do hara’ah hagedolah hazot, and commit chattat against Elohim?
10 And it came to pass, as she spoke to Yosef yom yom, that he unto her lo shama (did not pay heed), to lie with her, or to be with her.
11 And it came to pass about this time, that Yosef went into the bais to do his melachah (work); and there was none of the anshei habayit there within.
12 And she caught him by his beged, saying, Lie with me; and he left his beged in her yad, and fled, and ran outside.
13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his beged in her yad, and had fled outside,
14 That she called unto her anshei habayit, and spoke unto them, saying, Look, he hath brought in unto us an ish Ivri to show disrespect and mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I screamed with a kol gadol (loud voice);
15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and screamed, that he left his beged with me, and fled, and ran outside.
16 And she laid up his beged by her, until adonav came to his bais.
17 And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying, The eved HaIvri, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to show disrespect and mock me;
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and screamed, that he left his beged with me, and fled outside.
19 And it came to pass, when adonav heard the words of his isha, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did thy eved to me; that his wrath was kindled.
20 And adonei Yosef took him, and put him into the bais hasohar, a place where the asirei HaMelech were prisoners; and he was there in the bais hasohar.
21 But Hashem was with Yosef, and showed him chesed, and gave him chen in the eyes of the sar bais hasohar.
22 And the sar bais hasohar entrusted to the yad Yosef all the asirim (prisoners) that were in the bais hasohar; and whatsoever they did there, he was the accomplisher of it.
23 The sar bais hasohar looked not to anything that was under his [Yosef’s] yad; because Hashem was with him, and that which he did, Hashem made it to prosper.
40 And it came to pass after these things, that the mashkeh (cupbearer) Melech Mitzrayim and his ofeh (baker) had offended adoneihem Melech Mitzrayim.
2 And Pharaoh was in wrath against two of his sarisim, against the sar hamashkim, and against the sar ha’ofim.
3 And he put them b’mishmar (under watch, in custody) in the bais sar hatabachim (house of the captain of the bodyguards), in the bais hasohar, in the makom (place) where Yosef was incarcerated.
4 And the sar hatabachim charged Yosef with them, and he ministered to them; and they continued a season b’mishmar (in custody, under watch).
5 And they dreamed a chalom both of them, each man his chalom in lailah echad (in one night, the same night), and each chalom with its own pitron (meaning, interpretation), the mashkeh and the ofeh of Melech Mitzrayim, which were prisoners in the bais hasohar.
6 And Yosef came in unto them in the boker, and looked upon them, and, hinei, they were zo’afim (troubled ones, sad ones).
7 And he asked the sarisim of Pharaoh that were with him b’mishmar (in the custody ward) of bais adonav, saying, Why look ye so ra’im (bad, downcast ones) hayom (today)?
8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a chalom, and there is no poter (interpreter) of it. And Yosef said unto them, Do not pitronim (interpretations) belong to Elohim? Tell now to me.
9 And the sar hamashkim told his chalom to Yosef, and said to him, In my chalom, hinei, a gefen was before me;
10 And in the gefen were shloshah sarigim (three branches); and it was as soon as it budded, its blossom shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth anavim (ripe grapes);
11 And the kos Pharaoh was in my yad; and I took the anavim (grapes), and pressed them into kos Pharaoh, and I put the kos into the palm of Pharaoh.
12 And Yosef said unto him, This is the pitron (interpretation) of it; The shloshet hasarigim are shloshet yamim.
13 Within shloshet yamim shall Pharaoh lift up thine rosh, and restore thee unto thy ken (place, post); and thou shalt deliver kos Pharaoh into his yad, after the mishpat harishon (former practice) when thou wast his mashkeh.
14 But remember me [see Amos 6:6] when it shall be well with thee, and show chesed now unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this bais;
15 For indeed I was stolen away out of the Eretz HaIvrim; and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the bor (dungeon).
16 When the sar ha’ofim saw that he had done the pitron well, he said unto Yosef, I also was in my chalom, and, hinei, I had shloshah salei chori (three baskets of cakes) on my rosh;
17 And in the sal haelyon (uppermost basket) there was all manner of food for Pharaoh; and ha’oph (the birds) did eat them out of the sal (basket) upon my rosh.
18 And Yosef answered and said, This is the pitron (interpretation, meaning) thereof: The shloshet hasalim (three baskets) are shloshet yamim.
19 Yet within shloshet yamim shall Pharaoh lift off thy rosh from on thee, and shall hang thee on an etz; and ha’oph (the birds) shall eat thy basar from off thee.
20 And it came to pass on Yom HaShlishi, which was the yom huledet of Pharaoh, that he made a mishteh (feast) unto all his avadim; and he lifted up the rosh sar hamashkim and the rosh sar ha’ofim (head of the chief baker) in the midst of his avadim (officials).
21 He restored the sar hamashkim unto his mashkeh; and he gave the kos into the palm of Pharaoh;
22 But he hanged the sar ha’ofim: just as Yosef had made the pitron to them.
23 Yet did not the sar hamashkim remember Yosef [see Amos 6:6] but forgot him.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International