Genesis 38

1 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;

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

2 and Judah sees there the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, whose name [is] Shuah, and takes her, and goes in to 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 conceives, and bears a son, and he calls his name Er;

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

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

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

5 and she adds again, and bears a son, and calls his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib in her bearing 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 takes a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name [is] Tamar;

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 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.

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 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.

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

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

14 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.

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

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

16 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?”

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 says, “I send a kid of the goats from the flock.” And she says, “Do you give a pledge until you 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 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;

“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 rises, and goes, and turns aside her veil from off her, and puts 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 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.

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 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.”

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 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,”

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 says, “Let her take to herself, lest we become despised; behold, I sent this kid, and you have 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 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.”

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 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.”

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 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.

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

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

28 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.”

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 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;

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

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