Genesis 38

1 And at that time Iudah went downe from his brethren, and turned in to a man called Hirah an Adullamite.

And it comes to pass, at that time, that Judah goes down from his brothers, and turns aside to a man, an Adullamite, whose name [is] Hirah;

2 And Iudah sawe there the daughter of a man called Suah a Canaanite: and he tooke her to wife, and went in vnto her.

and Judah sees there the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, whose name [is] Shuah, and takes her, and goes in to her.

3 So she conceiued and bare a sonne, and he called his name Er.

And she conceives, and bears a son, and he calls his name Er;

4 And she conceiued againe, and bare a sonne, and she called his name Onan.

and she conceives again, and bears a son, and calls his name Onan;

5 Moreouer she bare yet a sonne, whome she called Shelah: and Iudah was at Chezib when she bare him.

and she adds again, and bears a son, and calls his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib in her bearing him.

6 Then Iudah tooke a wife to Er his first borne sonne whose name was Tamar.

And Judah takes a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name [is] Tamar;

7 Now Er the first borne of Iudah was wicked in the sight of the Lord: therefore the Lord slewe him.

and Er, Judah’s firstborn, is evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH puts him to death.

8 Then Iudah said to Onan, Goe in vnto thy brothers wife, and do the office of a kinsman vnto her, and raise vp seede vnto thy brother.

And Judah says to Onan, “Go in to the wife of your brother, and marry her, and raise up seed to your brother”;

9 And Onan knewe that the seede should not be his: therefore when he went in vnto his brothers wife, he spilled it on the grounde, least he should giue seede vnto his brother.

and Onan knows that the seed is not [reckoned] his; and it has come to pass, if he has gone in to his brother’s wife, that he has destroyed [it] to the earth, so as not to give seed to his brother;

10 And it was wicked in the eyes of the Lord, which he did: wherefore he slewe him also.

and that which he has done is evil in the eyes of YHWH, and He puts him also to death.

11 Then said Iudah to Tamar his daughter in lawe, Remaine a widowe in thy fathers house, till Shelah my sonne growe vp (for he thought thus, Least he die as well as his brethren.) So Tamar went and dwelt in her fathers house.

And Judah says to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Abide [as] a widow at your father’s house, until my son Shelah grows up”; for he said, “Lest he die—even he—like his brothers”; and Tamar goes and dwells at her father’s house.

12 And in processe of time also the daughter of Shuah Iudahs wife dyed. Then Iudah, when he had left mourning, went vp to his sheepe sherers to Timnah, he, and his neighbour Hirah the Adullamite.

And the days are multiplied, and the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife, dies; and Judah is comforted, and goes up to his sheep-shearers, he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite, to Timnath.

13 And it was tolde Tamar, saying, beholde, thy father in lawe goeth vp to Timnah, to shere his sheepe.

And it is declared to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your husband’s father is going up to Timnath to shear his flock”;

14 Then she put her widowes garments off from her, and couered her with a vaile, and wrapped her selfe, and sate downe in Pethah-enaim, which is by the way to Timnah, because she sawe that Shelah was growen, and she was not giuen vnto him to wife.

and she turns aside the garments of her widowhood from off her, and covers herself with a veil, and wraps herself up, and sits in the opening of Enayim, which [is] by the way to Timnath, for she has seen that Shelah has grown up, and she has not been given to him for a wife.

15 When Iudah sawe her, he iudged her an whore: for she had couered her face.

And Judah sees her, and reckons her for a harlot, for she has covered her face,

16 And he turned to the way towardes her, and saide, Come, I pray thee, let me lie with thee. (for he knewe not that she was his daughter in lawe) And she answered, What wilt thou giue me for to lie with me?

and he turns aside to her by the way and says, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he has not known that she [is] his daughter-in-law; and she says, “What do you give to me, that you may come in to me?”

17 Then said he, I will sende thee a kid of the goates from the flocke. and she said, Well, if thou wilt giue me a pledge, till thou sende it.

And he says, “I send a kid of the goats from the flock.” And she says, “Do you give a pledge until you send [it]?”

18 Then he saide, What is the pledge that I shall giue thee? And she answered, Thy signet, and thy cloke, and thy staffe that is in thine hande. So he gaue it her, and lay by her, and she was with childe by him.

And he says, “What [is] the pledge that I give to you?” And she says, “Your seal, and your ribbon, and your staff which [is] in your hand”; and he gives to her, and goes in to her, and she conceives to him;

19 Then she rose, and went and put her vaile from her and put on her widowes raiment.

and she rises, and goes, and turns aside her veil from off her, and puts on the garments of her widowhood.

20 Afterwarde Iudah sent a kid of the goates by the hande of his neighbour the Adullamite, for to receiue his pledge from the womans hand: but he found her not.

And Judah sends the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman, and he has not found her.

21 Then asked he the men of that place, saying, Where is ye whore, that sate in Enaim by the way side? And they answered, There was no whore here.

And he asks the men of her place, saying, “Where [is] the separated one—she in Enayim, by the way?” And they say, “There has not been in this [place] a separated one.”

22 He came therefore to Iudah againe, and said, I can not finde her, and also the men of the place said, There was no whore there.

And he turns back to Judah and says, “I have not found her; and the men of the place also have said, There has not been in this [place] a separated one,”

23 Then Iudah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: beholde, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

and Judah says, “Let her take to herself, lest we become despised; behold, I sent this kid, and you have not found her.”

24 Now after three moneths, one tolde Iudah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the whore, and lo, with playing the whore, she is great with childe. Then Iudah saide, Bring ye her foorth and let her be burnt.

And it comes to pass about three months [after], that it is declared to Judah, saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has committed fornication; and also, behold, she has conceived by fornication”: and Judah says, “Bring her out—and she is burned.”

25 When she was brought foorth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, vnto whom these things pertaine, am I with childe: and saide also, Looke, I pray thee, whose these are, the seale, and the cloke, and the staffe.

She is brought out, and she has sent to her husband’s father, saying, “To a man whose these [are], I [am] pregnant”; and she says, “Please discern whose these [are]—the seal, and the ribbons, and the staff.”

26 Then Iudah knewe them, and said, She is more righteous then I: for she hath done it because I gaue her not to Shelah my sonne. So he lay with her no more.

And Judah discerns and says, “She has been more righteous than I, because that I did not give her to my son Shelah”; and he has not added to know her again.

27 Now, when the time was come that she should be deliuered, beholde, there were twinnes in her wombe.

And it comes to pass in the time of her bearing, that behold, twins [are] in her womb;

28 And when she was in trauell, the one put out his hand: and the midwife tooke and bound a red threde about his hand, saying, This is come out first.

and it comes to pass in her bearing, that [one] gives out a hand, and the midwife takes and binds on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This has come out first.”

29 But when he plucked his hand backe againe, loe, his brother came out, and the midwife said, How hast thou broken the breach vpon thee? and his name was called Pharez.

And it comes to pass as he draws back his hand, that behold, his brother has come out, and she says, “What! You have broken forth—the breach [is] on you”; and he calls his name Perez;

30 And afterward came out his brother that had the red threde about his hande, and his name was called Zarah.

and afterward his brother has come out, on whose hand [is] the scarlet thread, and he calls his name Zerah.