Genesis 38

1 Yn the same tyme Judas yede doun fro his britheren, and turnede to a man of Odolla, Hiram bi name;

Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah.

2 and he siy ther a douytir of a man of Canaan, Sue bi name. And whanne he hadde takun hir to wijf,

And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife.

3 he entride to hir, and sche conseyuede, and childide a sone, and clepide his name Her.

And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er.

4 And eft whanne a child was conseyued, sche nemyde the child borun Onam.

And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan.

5 And sche childide the thridde sone, whom sche clepide Cela, and whanne he was borun, sche ceesside to bere child more.

Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.

6 Forsothe Judas yaf a wijf, `Thamar bi name, to his firste gendrid sone Her.

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

7 And Her, the firste gendrid sone of Judas, was weiward in the siyt of the Lord, and therfor he was slayn of the Lord.

Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death.

8 Therfor Judas seide to Onam, his sone, Entre thou to the wijf of thi brothir, and be thou felouschipid to hir, that thou reise seed to thi brothir.

Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your wife and get offspring for your brother.

9 And he wiste that sones schulden not be borun to him, `and he entride to the wijf of his brother, and schedde seed in to the erthe, lest the fre children schulden be borun bi the name of the brother;

But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother.

10 and therfor the Lord smoot hym, for he dide abhomynable thing.

And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death, like his brother.

11 Wherfor Judas seide to Thamar, `wijf of his sone, Be thou widewe in the hous of thi fadir, til Sela my sone wexe, for he dredde lest also he schulde die as hise britheren. And sche yede, and dwellide in the hous of hir fadir.

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's house.

12 Forsothe whanne many yeeris weren passid, the douyter of Sue, `the wijf of Juda, diede, and whanne coumfort was takun aftir morenyng, he stiede to the schereris of hise scheep, he and Iras of Odolla, that was kepere of the floc, stieden in to Thampnas.

And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him.

13 And it was teld to Thamar, that `the fadir of hir hosebonde stiede to Thampnas, to schere scheep.

And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting,

14 And sche dide awei the clothis of widewehod, and sche took a roket, and whanne the clothinge was chaungid, sche sat in the weilot that ledith to Tampna; for Sela hadde woxe, and sche hadde not take hym to hosebonde.

She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife.

15 And whanne Judas hadde seyn hir, he supposide hir to be an hoore, for sche hadde hilid hir face, lest sche were knowun.

When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered.

16 And Judas entride to hir, and seide, Suffre me that Y ligge with thee; for he wiste not that sche was the wijf of his sone. And whanne sche answeride, What schalt thou yyue to me, that thou ligge bi me?

And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price?

17 he seide, Y schal sende to thee a kide of the flockis. And eft whanne sche seide, Y schal suffre that that thou wolt, if thou schalt yyue to me a wed, til thou sendist that that thou bihetist.

And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it?

18 Judas seide, What wolt thou that be youun to thee for a wed? She answeride, Thi ryng, and thi bie of the arm, and the staaf which thou holdist in the hond. Therfor the womman conseyuide at o liggyng bi, and sche roos, and yede;

And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him.

19 and whanne the clooth was `put awei which sche hadde take, sche was clothid in the clothis of widewhod.

Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing.

20 Forsothe Judas sente a kide bi his scheepherde of Odolla, that he schulde resseyue the wed which he hadde youe to the womman; and whanne he hadde not founde hir,

Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there.

21 he axide men of that place, Where is the womman that sat in the weie lot? And whanne alle men answeriden, An hoore was not in this place; he turnede ayen to Judas,

And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there.

22 and seide to hym, Y foond not hir, but also men of that place seiden to me, that an hoore sat neuere there.

So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there.

23 Judas seide, Haue sche to hir silf, certis sche may not repreue vs of a leesyng; Y sente the kyde which Y bihiyte, and thou foundist not hir.

And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.

24 Lo! sotheli aftir thre monethis thei telden to Judas, and seiden, Thamar, `wijf of thi sone, hath do fornycacioun, and hir womb semeth to wexe greet. Judas seide, Brynge ye hir forth, that sche be brent.

Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.

25 And whanne sche was led to peyne, sche sente to `the fadir of hir hosebonde, and seide, Y haue conseyued of the man, whose these thingis ben; knowe thou whose is the ryng, and bie of the arm, and staf?

And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are, is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and this cord and this stick?

26 And whanne the yiftis weren knowun, he seide, Sche is more iust than Y, for Y yaf not hir to Sela, my sone; netheles Judas knewe hir no more fleischli.

Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he had no more connection with her.

27 Sotheli whanne the childberyng neiyede, twei chyldren apperiden in the wombe, and in that birthe of children, oon brouyte forth the hond, in which the mydwijf boond a reed threed,

And when the time came for her to give birth, it was clear that there were two children in her body.

28 and seide, This schal go out `the formere.

And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.

29 Sotheli while he withdrowe the hond, the tother yede out, and the womman seide, Whi was the skyn in which the child lay in the wombe departid for thee? And for this cause sche clepide his name Fares.

But then he took his hand back again, and his brother came first to birth: and the woman said, What an opening you have made for yourself! So he was named Perez.

30 Afterward his brothir yede out, in whos hond was the reed threed, whom sche clepide Zaram.

And then his brother came out, with the red thread round his hand, and he was named Zerah.