Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A prayer of David.^[a]

Judah and Tamar

38 About that time, Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. ² Judah met a Canaanite girl there and married her. The girl’s father was named Shua. ³ The Canaanite girl gave birth to a son and named him Er. ⁴ Later, she gave birth to another son and named him Onan. ⁵ Then she had another son named Shelah. Judah lived in Kezib when his third son was born.

⁶ Judah chose a woman named Tamar to be the wife of his first son Er. ⁷ But Er did many bad things. The Lord was not happy with him, so the Lord killed him. ⁸ Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and sleep with your dead brother’s wife.^[a] Become like a husband to her. If children are born, they will belong to your brother Er.”

⁹ Onan knew that the children from this union would not belong to him. He had sexual relations with Tamar, but he did not allow himself to stay inside her. ¹⁰ This made the Lord angry. So he killed Onan also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go back to your father’s house. Stay there and don’t marry until my young son Shelah grows up.” Judah was afraid that Shelah would also be killed like his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father’s home.

¹² Later, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah’s time of sadness, he went to Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam. Judah went to Timnah to have the wool cut from his sheep. ¹³ Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep. ¹⁴ Tamar always wore clothes that showed that she was a widow. So she put on some different clothes and covered her face with a veil. Then she sat down near the road going to Enaim, a town near Timnah. Tamar knew that Judah’s younger son Shelah was now grown up, but Judah would not make plans for her to marry him.

¹⁵ Judah traveled on that road and saw her, but he thought that she was a prostitute. (Her face was covered with a veil like a prostitute.) ¹⁶ So he went to her and said, “Let me have sex with you.” (Judah did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.)

She said, “How much will you give me?”

¹⁷ Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”

She answered, “I agree to that. But first you must give me something to keep until you send me the goat.”

¹⁸ Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as proof that I will send you the goat?”

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

²⁰ Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her. ²¹ He 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 Judah’s friend went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman. The men who live in that place said that there was never a prostitute there.”

²³ So Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I tried to give her the goat, but we could not find her. That is enough.”

Tamar Is Pregnant

²⁴ About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar sinned like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.”

Then Judah said, “Take her out and burn her.”

²⁵ The men went to Tamar to kill her, but she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, “The man who made me pregnant is the man who owns these things. Look at them. Whose are they? Whose special seal and string is this? Whose walking stick is this?”

²⁶ Judah recognized these things and said, “She is right. I was wrong. I did not give her my son Shelah like I promised.” And Judah did not sleep with her again.

Paul Defends Himself Before Felix

¹⁰ The governor made a sign for Paul to speak. So Paul answered, “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 twelve days ago. You can learn for yourself that this is true. ¹² These Jews who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone at the Temple or making trouble with the people. And I was not making trouble or arguing in the synagogues or any other place in the city. ¹³ These men cannot prove the things they are saying against me now.

¹⁴ “But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which these Jews say is not the right way, and I believe everything that is taught in the Law of Moses and all that is written in the books of the prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that these Jews 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 before everyone.

^17-18 “I was away from Jerusalem for many years. I went back there to take money to help my people. I also had some gifts to offer at the Temple. I was doing this when some Jews saw me there. I had finished the cleansing ceremony.^[a] I had not made any trouble, and no one was 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. They were there! ²⁰ Ask these men here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the high council meeting in Jerusalem. ²¹ I did say one thing when I stood before them and shouted, ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from death!’”

²² Felix already understood a lot about the Way. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide what to do with you.” ²³ Felix told the army officer to keep Paul guarded but to give him some freedom and to let his friends bring whatever he needed.