Genesis 38
1 Eodem tempore descendens Iudas a fratribus suis, divertit ad Virum Odollamitem, nomine Hiram.
About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite.
2 Viditque ibi filiam hominis Chananæi, vocabulo Sue: et accepta uxore, ingressus est ad eam.
There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
3 Quæ concepit, et peperit filium, et vocavit nomen eius Her.
So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.
4 Rursumque concepto fœtu, natum filium vocavit Onan.
Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan.
5 Tertium quoque peperit: quem appellavit Sela. quo nato, parere ultra cessavit.
Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Dedit autem Iudas uxorem primogenito suo Her, nomine Thamar.
Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 Fuit quoque Her primogenitus Iudæ, nequam in conspectu Domini: et ab eo occisus est.
But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Dixit ergo Iudas ad Onan filium suum: Ingredere uxorem fratris tui, et sociare illi, ut suscites semen fratri tuo.
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 Ille sciens non sibi nasci filios, introiens ad uxorem fratris sui, semen fundebat in terram, ne liberi fratris nomine nascerentur.
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 Et idcirco percussit eum Dominus, quod rem detestabilem faceret.
What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
11 Quam ob rem dixit Iudas Thamar nurui suæ: Esto vidua in domo patris tui, donec crescat Sela filius meus: timebat enim ne et ipse moreretur, sicut fratres eius. Quæ abiit, et habitavit in domo patris sui.
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 Evolutis autem multis diebus, mortua est filia Sue uxor Iudæ: qui post luctum consolatione suscepta, ascendebat ad tonsores ovium suarum, ipse et Hiras opilio gregis Odollamites, in Thamnas.
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 Nunciatumque est Thamar quod socer illius ascenderet in Thamnas ad tondendas oves.
When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14 Quæ, depositis viduitatis vestibus, assumpsit theristrum: et mutato habitu, sedit in bivio itineris, quod ducit Thamnam: eo quod crevisset Sela, et non eum accepisset maritum.
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 Quam cum vidisset Iudas, suspicatus est esse meretricem: operuerat enim vultum suum, ne agnosceretur.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.
16 Ingrediensque ad eam, ait: Dimitte me ut coeam tecum: nesciebat enim quod nurus sua esset. Qua respondente: Quid dabis mihi ut fruaris concubitu meo?
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 dixit: Mittam tibi hœdam de gregibus. Rursumque illa dicente: Patiar quod vis, si dederis mihi arrhabonem, donec mittas quod polliceris.
“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 Ait Iudas: Quid tibi vis pro arrhabone dari? Respondit: Annulum tuum, et armillam, et baculum quem manu tenes. Ad unum igitur coitum mulier concepit,
“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 et surgens abiit: depositoque habitu, quem sumpserat, induta est viduitatis vestibus.
Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
20 Misit autem Iudas hœdum per pastorem suum Odollamitem, ut reciperet pignus quod dederat mulieri: qui cum non invenisset eam,
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 interrogavit homines loci illius: Ubi est mulier quæ sedebat in bivio? Respondentibus cunctis: Non fuit in loco ista meretrix.
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 Reversus est ad Iudam, et dixit ei: Non inveni eam: sed et homines loci illius dixerunt mihi, numquam sedisse ibi scortum.
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 Ait Iudas: Habeat sibi, certe mendacii arguere nos non potest, ego misi hœdum quem promiseram: et tu non invenisti eam.
“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 Ecce autem post tres menses nunciaverunt Iudæ, dicentes: Fornicata est Thamar nurus tua, et videtur uterus illius intumescere. Dixitque Iudas: Producite eam ut comburatur.
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 Quæ cum duceretur ad pœnam, misit ad socerum suum, dicens: De viro, cuius hæc sunt, concepi: cognosce cuius sit annulus, et armilla, et baculus.
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 Qui, agnitis muneribus, ait: Iustior me est: quia non tradidi eam Sela filio meo. Attamen ultra non cognovit eam.
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 Instante autem partu, apparuerunt gemini in utero: atque in ipsa effusione infantium unus protulit manum, in qua obstetrix ligavit coccinum, dicens:
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28 Iste egredietur prior.
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 Illo vero retrahente manum, egressus est alter: dixitque mulier: Quare divisa est propter te maceria? et ob hanc causam vocavit nomen eius Phares.
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 Postea egressus est frater eius, in cuius manu erat coccinum: quem appellavit Zara.
Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.
