Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A ^(A)Prayer of David.

Judah and Tamar

38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and ^(A)turned aside to a certain ^(B)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(C)Shua. He took her and went in to her, ³ and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^(D)Er. ⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^(E)Onan. ⁵ Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name ^(F)Shelah. Judah^[a] was in Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah's firstborn, ^(G)was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(H)your brother's wife and ^(I)perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^(J)“Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained ^(K)in her father's house.

¹² In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah ^(L)was comforted, he went up to ^(M)Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she took off her widow's garments ^(N)and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to ^(O)Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, ^(P)and she had not been given to him in marriage. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, ^(Q)“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 away, and taking off ^(R)her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. ²¹ And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute^[b] who was at ^(S)Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” ²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” ²³ And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law ^(T)has been immoral.^[c] Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”^[d] And Judah said, “Bring her out, and ^(U)let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, ^(V)the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah identified them and said, ^(W)“She is more righteous than I, since ^(X)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

¹⁰ And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹ You can verify that ^(A)it is not more than twelve days since I ^(B)went up ^(C)to worship in Jerusalem, ¹² and ^(D)they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ^13 (E)Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to ^(F)the Way, which they call ^(G)a sect, ^(H)I worship ^(I)the God of our fathers, believing everything ^(J)laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, ^15 (K)having ^(L)a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be ^(M)a resurrection ^(N)of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶ So I always ^(O)take pains to have a ^(P)clear conscience toward both God and man. ¹⁷ Now ^(Q)after several years ^(R)I came to bring alms to ^(S)my nation and to present ^(T)offerings. ¹⁸ While I was doing this, they found me ^(U)purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But ^(V)some Jews from Asia— ^19 (W)they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹ other than this one thing ^(X)that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

Paul Kept in Custody

²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of ^(Y)the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he ^(Z)should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that ^(AA)none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.