Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Protection

A prayer of David.

Judah and Tamar

38 About that time, Judah left his brothers. He went to stay with a man named Hirah. Hirah was from the town of Adullam. ² Judah met a Canaanite girl there and married her. Her father was named Shua. And Judah had intimate relations with her. ³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Judah named him Er. ⁴ Later she gave birth to another son. She named him Onan. ⁵ Later she had another son. She named him Shelah. She was at Kezib when this third son was born.

⁶ Judah chose a girl named Tamar to be the wife of his first son Er. ⁷ Er was Judah’s oldest son. But he did what the Lord said was evil. So the Lord killed him. ⁸ Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and have physical relations with your dead brother’s wife.^[a] It is your duty to provide children for your brother in this way.”

⁹ But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him. Onan was supposed to have physical relations with Tamar. But he did not complete the physical act. This made it impossible for Tamar to become pregnant. So Er could not have descendants. ¹⁰ The Lord was displeased by this wicked thing Onan had done. So the Lord 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 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, he went to Timnah. He went to his men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. 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. Then she covered her face with a veil to hide who she was. She sat down by the gate of Enaim. It was 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.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute. This was because she had covered her face with a veil. ¹⁶ So Judah went to her and said, “Let me have physical relations with you.” He did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.

She asked, “What will you give me if I let you have physical relations with 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 until you send the goat.”

¹⁸ Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as a deposit?”

Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its cord,^[b] and give me your walking stick.” So Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had physical relations, and Tamar became pregnant. ¹⁹ Tamar went home. She took off the veil that covered her face. And she put on the clothes that showed she was a widow.

²⁰ Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat. Judah told Hirah to find the woman and get back his seal and the walking stick he had given her. But Hirah could not find her. ²¹ Hirah asked some of the men at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?”

The men answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.”

²² So he went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman. The men 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. Now she is pregnant.”

Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned to death.”

²⁵ When the men went to bring Tamar out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. She said, “The man who owns these things has made me pregnant. Look at this seal and its cord and this walking stick. Tell me whose they are.”

²⁶ Judah recognized them. He said, “She is more in the right than I. She did this because I did not give her to my son Shelah as I promised.” And Judah did not have physical relations with her again.

¹⁰ The governor made a sign for Paul to speak. So Paul said, “Governor Felix, I know that you have been a judge over this nation for a long time. So I am happy to defend myself before you. ¹¹ I went to worship in Jerusalem only 12 days ago. You can learn for yourself that this is true. ¹² Those who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple. I was not stirring up the people. And I was not making trouble in the Temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ¹³ They cannot prove the things they are saying against me now. ¹⁴ But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way of Jesus. The Jews say that the Way of Jesus is not the right way. But I believe everything that is taught in the law of Moses and that is written in the books of the Prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that they have—the hope that all people, good and bad, will be raised from death. ¹⁶ This is why I always try to do what I believe is right before God and men.

¹⁷ “I was away from Jerusalem for several years. I went back there to bring money to my people and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ I was doing this when they found me in the Temple. I had finished the cleansing ceremony. I had not made any trouble; no people were gathering around me. ¹⁹ But some Jews from Asia were there. They should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. ²⁰ Or ask these Jews here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the Jewish council in Jerusalem. ²¹ But I did say one thing when I stood before them: ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from death!’”

²² Felix already understood much about the Way of Jesus. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide about your case.” ²³ Felix told the officer to keep Paul guarded. But he told the officer to give Paul some freedom and to let his friends bring what he needed.