Beginning
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, “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 [k]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 [l](U)Perez. 30 Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named [m](V)Zerah.
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
39 Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him [n]from the (W)Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. 2 (X)And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a [o]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master (Y)saw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh (Z)caused all that he did to succeed in his hand. 4 So Joseph (AA)found favor in his sight and [p]attended on him; and he appointed him overseer over his house, and (AB)all that he owned he gave in his hand. 5 Now it happened that from the time he appointed him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, Yahweh (AC)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus (AD)the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. 6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s hand; and with him there he did not [q]concern himself with anything except the [r]food which he [s]ate.
Now Joseph was (AE)beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.
7 And it happened after these events (AF)that his master’s wife [t]set her eyes on Joseph and said, “(AG)Lie with me.” 8 But (AH)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master [u]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has given all that he owns into my hand. 9 [v](AI)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and (AJ)sin against God?” 10 So it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
11 Now it happened [w]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 Then she seized him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. 13 Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a [x]Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I [y]screamed. 15 Now it happened that when he heard that I raised my voice and [z]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” 16 And she placed his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she (AK)spoke to him [aa]with these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to laugh at me; 18 and as I raised my voice and [ab]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”
Joseph Is Put into Jail
19 Now it happened that when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “[ac]This is what your slave did to me,” (AL)his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and (AM)put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. 21 But (AN)Yahweh was with Joseph and [ad]extended lovingkindness to him and (AO)gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 So the chief jailer (AP)gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was [ae]the one who did it. 23 (AQ)The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because (AR)Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, (AS)Yahweh made to succeed.
Joseph Interprets the Officials’ Dreams
40 Now it happened that after these things, (AT)the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was (AU)furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the (AV)captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. 4 And the captain of the bodyguard appointed Joseph as overseer over them, and he [af]attended to them; and they were in confinement for [ag]some time. 5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 Now Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, and behold, they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, saying, “(AW)Why are your faces so sad today?” 8 Then they said to him, “(AX)We have [ah]had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “(AY)Do not interpretations belong to God? Recount it to me, please.”
9 So the chief cupbearer recounted his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream, [ai]behold, there was a vine in front of me; 10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s [aj]hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the (AZ)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13 within three more days Pharaoh will [ak]lift up your head and restore you to your [al]office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please (BA)show me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. 15 For (BB)I was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit.”
16 And the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, so he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; 17 and in the top basket there were some of all [am]sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head off of you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off of you.”
20 Thus it happened on the third day, which was (BC)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; (BD)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 And he restored the chief cupbearer to his [an]office, and (BE)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s [ao]hand; 22 but (BF)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but (BG)forgot him.
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