בראשית 38

1 ויהי בעת ההוא וירד יהודה מאת אחיו ויט עד איש עדלמי ושמו חירה

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

2 וירא שם יהודה בת איש כנעני ושמו שוע ויקחה ויבא אליה

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

3 ותהר ותלד בן ויקרא את שמו ער

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

4 ותהר עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את שמו אונן

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

5 ותסף עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את שמו שלה והיה בכזיב בלדתה אתו

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

6 ויקח יהודה אשה לער בכורו ושמה תמר

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

7 ויהי ער בכור יהודה--רע בעיני יהוה וימתהו יהוה

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

8 ויאמר יהודה לאונן בא אל אשת אחיך ויבם אתה והקם זרע לאחיך

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 וידע אונן כי לא לו יהיה הזרע והיה אם בא אל אשת אחיו ושחת ארצה לבלתי נתן זרע לאחיו

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 וירע בעיני יהוה אשר עשה וימת גם אתו

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

11 ויאמר יהודה לתמר כלתו שבי אלמנה בית אביך עד יגדל שלה בני--כי אמר פן ימות גם הוא כאחיו ותלך תמר ותשב בית אביה

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 וירבו הימים ותמת בת שוע אשת יהודה וינחם יהודה ויעל על גזזי צאנו הוא וחירה רעהו העדלמי--תמנתה

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 ויגד לתמר לאמר הנה חמיך עלה תמנתה לגז צאנו

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

14 ותסר בגדי אלמנותה מעליה ותכס בצעיף ותתעלף ותשב בפתח עינים אשר על דרך תמנתה כי ראתה כי גדל שלה והוא לא נתנה לו לאשה

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 ויראה יהודה ויחשבה לזונה כי כסתה פניה

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

16 ויט אליה אל הדרך ויאמר הבה נא אבוא אליך כי לא ידע כי כלתו הוא ותאמר מה תתן לי כי תבוא אלי

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 ויאמר אנכי אשלח גדי עזים מן הצאן ותאמר אם תתן ערבון עד שלחך

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 ויאמר מה הערבון אשר אתן לך ותאמר חתמך ופתילך ומטך אשר בידך ויתן לה ויבא אליה ותהר לו

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 ותקם ותלך ותסר צעיפה מעליה ותלבש בגדי אלמנותה

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

20 וישלח יהודה את גדי העזים ביד רעהו העדלמי לקחת הערבון מיד האשה ולא מצאה

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 וישאל את אנשי מקמה לאמר איה הקדשה הוא בעינים על הדרך ויאמרו לא היתה בזה קדשה

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 וישב אל יהודה ויאמר לא מצאתיה וגם אנשי המקום אמרו לא היתה בזה קדשה

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 ויאמר יהודה תקח לה פן נהיה לבוז הנה שלחתי הגדי הזה ואתה לא מצאתה

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 ויהי כמשלש חדשים ויגד ליהודה לאמר זנתה תמר כלתך וגם הנה הרה לזנונים ויאמר יהודה הוציאוה ותשרף

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 הוא מוצאת והיא שלחה אל חמיה לאמר לאיש אשר אלה לו אנכי הרה ותאמר הכר נא--למי החתמת והפתילים והמטה האלה

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 ויכר יהודה ויאמר צדקה ממני כי על כן לא נתתיה לשלה בני ולא יסף עוד לדעתה

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 ויהי בעת לדתה והנה תאומים בבטנה

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

28 ויהי בלדתה ויתן יד ותקח המילדת ותקשר על ידו שני לאמר זה יצא ראשנה

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 ויהי כמשיב ידו והנה יצא אחיו ותאמר מה פרצת עליך פרץ ויקרא שמו פרץ

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 ואחר יצא אחיו אשר על ידו השני ויקרא שמו זרח

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