Genesis 38

1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite.

2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.

There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.

3 And she conceived, and bore a son; and he called his name Er.

So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.

4 And she conceived again, and bore a son; and she called his name Onan.

Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan.

5 And she yet again bore a son, and called his name Shelah; and he was at Chezib, when she bore him.

Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.

Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7 And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.

8 And Judah said unto Onan: 'Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.'

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”

9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

10 And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of the LORD; and He slew him also.

What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.

11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law: 'Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown up'; for he said: 'Lest he also die, like his brethren.' And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

12 And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

13 And it was told Tamar, saying: 'Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.'

When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

14 And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entrance of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife.

she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said: 'Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee'; for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said: 'What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?'

Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.

17 And he said: 'I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock.' And she said: 'Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?'

“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”

18 And he said: 'What pledge shall I give thee?' And she said: 'Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand.' And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

19 And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.

20 And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand; but he found her not.

Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.

21 Then he asked the men of her place, saying: 'Where is the harlot, that was at Enaim by the wayside?' And they said: 'There hath been no harlot here.'

He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered.

22 And he returned to Judah, and said: 'I have not found her; and also the men of the place said: There hath been no harlot here.'

So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”

23 And Judah said: 'Let her take it, lest we be put to shame; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.'

“Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”

24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying: 'Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by harlotry.' And Judah said: 'Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.'

About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”

25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying: 'By the man, whose these are, am I with child'; and she said: 'Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff.'

As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”

26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said: 'She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son.' And he knew her again no more.

Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying: 'This came out first.'

And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.

29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold his brother came out; and she said: 'Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself?' Therefore his name was called Perez.

But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah.

Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.