Chapter 38

¹ And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down from his brethren, and came as far as to a certain man of Adullam, whose name was Hirah. ² And Judah saw there the daughter of a Canaanitish man, whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in to her. ³ And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name, Er. ⁴ And she conceived and bore a son again; and called his name, Onan. ⁵ And she again bore a son; and called his name, Shelah: and she was in Chezib when she bore them. ⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. ⁷ And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked before the Lord; and God killed him. ⁸ And Judah said to Onan, Go in to thy brother’s wife, and marry her as her brother-in-law, and raise up seed to thy brother. ⁹ And Onan, knowing that the seed should not be his—it came to pass when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled [it] upon the ground, so that he should not give seed to his brother’s wife. ¹⁰ And his doing this appeared evil before God; and he slew him also.

Gen 38:1-10

¹¹ And Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Sit thou a widow in the house of thy father-in-law, until Shelah my son be grown; for he said, Lest he also die as his brethren; and Tamar departed, and sat in the house of her father. ¹² And the days were fulfilled, and Shua the wife of Judah died; and Judah, being comforted, went to them that sheared his sheep, himself and Hirah his shepherd the Adullamite, to Timnah. ¹³ And it was told Tamar his daughter-in-law, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah, to shear his sheep. ¹⁴ And having taken off the garments of her widowhood from her, she put on a veil, and ornamented her face, and sat by the gates of Enaim, which is in the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown; but he gave her not to him for a wife. ¹⁵ And when Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she covered her face, and he knew her not. ¹⁶ And he went out of his way to her, and said to her, Let me come in to thee; for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law; and she said, What wilt thou give me if thou shouldest come in to me? ¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from my flock; and she said, [Well], if thou wilt give me an earnest, until thou send it. ¹⁸ And he said, What is the earnest that I shall give thee? and she said, Thy ring, and thy bracelet, and the staff in thy hand; and he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ And she arose and departed, and took her veil from off her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰ And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his shepherd the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman; and he found her not. ²¹ And he asked the men of the place, Where is the harlot who was in Enaim by the wayside? and they said, There was no harlot here. ²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and the men of the place say, There is no harlot here. ²³ And Judah said, Let her have them, but let us not be ridiculed; I sent this kid, but thou hast not found her. ²⁴ And it came to pass after three months, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law has grievously played the harlot, and behold she is with child by whoredom; and Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burned. ²⁵ And as they were bringing her, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, I am with child by the man whose these things are; and she said, See whose is this ring and bracelet and staff. ²⁶ And Judah knew [them], and said, Tamar is cleared rather than I, forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son: and he knew her not again. ²⁷ And it came to pass when she was in labor, that she also had twins in her womb. ²⁸ And it came to pass as she was bringing forth, one thrust forth his hand, and the midwife having taken hold of it, bound upon his hand a scarlet [thread], saying, This one shall come out first. ²⁹ And when he drew back his hand, then immediately came forth his brother; and she said, Why has the barrier been cut through because of thee? and she called his name, Perez. ³⁰ And after this came forth his brother, on whose hand was the scarlet thread; and she called his name, Zerah.

Gen 38:11-30