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.

At that time, Judah left his older and younger brothers and went down from the hilly area and stayed with a man whose name was Hiram, who lived in Adullam [town].

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 he (met/became acquainted with) a woman who was the daughter of a man from Canaan named Shua. He married her. He had sex [EUP] with her,

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

and she became pregnant and later gave birth to a son, whom he named Er.

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

Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son whom she named Onan.

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

Many years later, when Judah and his family went to live in Kezib [town], Judah’s wife gave birth to another son, whom she named Shelah.

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

When Judah’s oldest son Er [grew up], Judah got a wife for him, a woman named Tamar.

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

But Er did something that Yahweh considered to be very wicked, so Yahweh caused him to die.

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, “Your older brother died without having any sons. So marry his widow and have sex [EUP] with her. That is what our customs require that you should do.”

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 if he did that, any children who would be born would not be considered to be his. So every time he had sex [EUP] with his brother’s widow, he spilled his semen on the ground, so that she would not get pregnant and produce children for his older brother.

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

Yahweh considered that what he did was wicked, so he caused him to die also.

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, “Return to your father’s house, but do not marry anyone else. When my youngest son Shelah grows up, [he can marry you].” But Judah [really did not want Shelah to marry her, because] he was afraid that then Shelah would die too, just as his older brothers had died. So Tamar [obeyed Judah and] went back to live in her father’s house again.

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.

Several years later, Judah’s wife, who was the daughter of Shua, died. When the time of mourning for her was finished, Judah decided to go up to Timnah, to the place where his (men were shearing his sheep/sheep were being sheared) His friend Hiram, from Adullam, went with him.

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

Someone said to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going to [the fields near the city of] Timnah to help the men who are shearing 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 realized that now Shelah was grown up, but Judah had not given her to him to be his wife. So] she took off her widow’s clothes, and covered her head with a veil, so that people would not (recognize her/know who she was). Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim [town], which is on the road to Timnah.

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

When Judah came along and saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her head [like prostitutes often did] (OR, [and sat where prostitutes often sat)].

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?'

Judah did not realize that she was his daughter-in-law. So he said to her, “Hey, let me have sex [EUP] with you!” She replied, “What will you give me for allowing you to have sex [EUP] with me?”

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?'

He replied, “I will send you a young goat from my flock of goats.” She asked, “Will you give me something now for me to keep until you send the goat?”

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.

He replied, “What do you want me to give to you?” She replied, “Give me the ring that has your name on it that is tied by a cord around your neck, and give me the walking stick that you are holding in your hand.” So he gave them to her. Then he had sex [EUP] with her, and she became pregnant.

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

After she left, she took off the veil and put her widow’s clothes on 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.

Judah gave a young goat to his friend from Adullam, for him to take back to the woman, as he had promised. But his friend could not find the woman.

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.'

So he asked the men who lived there, “Where is the prostitute who was sitting by the road at Enaim?” They replied, “There has never been a prostitute here!”

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 he went back to Judah and said, “I did not find her. [Furthermore], the men who live in that town said, ‘There has never been a prostitute 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.'

Judah said, “She can keep the things that I gave to her. If we continued to search for her, people would ridicule us. I tried to send this young goat to her, but you could not find her to give it to 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, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has become a prostitute and now she is pregnant!” Judah said, “Drag her outside of the city and kill her by burning her!”

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.'

But as they were taking her outside of the city, she gave the ring and walking stick to someone, and told him to take them to Judah, and say to him, “The man who owns these things is the one who caused me to become pregnant.” She also said to tell him, “Look at this ring, and the cord that is attached to it, and this walking stick. Whose are they?”

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.

When the man did that, Judah recognized the ring and the stick. He said, “She is more righteous than I am. I did not tell my son Shelah to marry her, as I promised that I would.” And Judah did not have sex [EUP] with her again.

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

When it was time for her to give birth, [she was surprised that] there were twin boys 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.'

As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. So the midwife fastened a scarlet thread around his wrist, saying, “This one came out first.”

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 he pulled his hand back inside the womb, and his brother came out first. So she said, “So this is how you break your way out first!” So she named him Perez, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘breaking out].’

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

Then his younger brother, the one who had the scarlet thread around his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘redness of dawn].’