Genesis 38–39

38TH CHAPTER

Judah’s Sin with Tamar

¹About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man from Adullam whose name was Hirah. ²There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shua. He married her and slept with her. ³She became pregnant and gave birth to a son named^aEr. ⁴She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Onan. ⁵Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Shelah. He was born at Kezib. 

⁶Judah chose a wife for his firstborn son Er. Her name was Tamar. ⁷Er angered the Lord. So the Lord took away his life. ⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “Go sleep with your brother’s widow. Do your duty for her as a brother-in-law, and produce a descendant for your brother.” ⁹But Onan knew that the descendant wouldn’t belong to him, so whenever he slept with his brother’s widow, he wasted his semen on the ground to avoid giving his brother a descendant. ¹⁰What Onan did angered the Lord so much that the Lord took away Onan’s life too. 

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father’s home. Live as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He thought that this son, too, might die like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s home. 

¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah from Adullam went to Timnah where the men were shearing Judah’s sheep. ¹³As soon as Tamar was told that her father-in-law was on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep, ¹⁴she took off her widow’s clothes, covered her face with a veil, and disguised herself. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. (She did this because she realized that Shelah was grown up now, and she hadn’t been given to him in marriage.) 

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. ¹⁶Since he didn’t know she was his daughter-in-law, he approached her by the roadside and said, “Come on, let’s sleep together!” 

She asked, “What will you pay to sleep with me?” 

¹⁷“I’ll send you a young goat from the flock,” he answered. 

She said, “First give me something as a deposit until you send it.” 

¹⁸“What should I give you as a deposit?” he asked. 

“Your signet ring, its cord, and the shepherd’s staff that’s in your hand,” she answered. 

So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her, and she became pregnant. ¹⁹After she got up and left, she took off her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on. 

²⁰Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat so that he could get back his deposit from the woman, but his friend couldn’t find her. ²¹He asked the men of that area, “Where’s that prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” 

“There’s no prostitute here,” they answered. 

²²So he went back to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Even the men of that area said, ‘There’s no prostitute here.’ ” 

²³Then Judah said, “Let her keep what I gave her, or we’ll become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.” 

²⁴About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a prostitute. What’s more, because of it she’s pregnant.” 

Judah ordered, “Bring her out to be burned.” 

²⁵As she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, “I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things. See if you recognize whose signet ring, cord, and shepherd’s staff these are.” 

²⁶Judah recognized them and said, “She’s not guilty. I am! She did this because I haven’t given her my son Shelah.” Judah never made love to her again. 

²⁷The time came for Tamar to give birth, and she had twin boys. ²⁸When she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. The midwife took a piece of red yarn, tied it on his wrist, and said, “This one came out first.” ²⁹As he pulled back his hand, his brother was born. So she said, “Is this how you burst into the world!” He was named Perez ^[Bursting Into^[. ³⁰After that his brother was born with the red yarn on his hand. He was named Zerah ^[Sunrise^[. 

39TH CHAPTER

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

¹Joseph had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s Egyptian officials and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 

²The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his Egyptian master. ³Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful. ⁴Potiphar liked Joseph so much that he made him his trusted servant. He put him in charge of his household and everything he owned. ⁵From that time on the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. Therefore, the Lord’s blessing was on everything Potiphar owned in his house and in his fields. ⁶So he left all that he owned in Joseph’s care. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the food he ate. 

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷After a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph, so she said, “Come to bed with me.” 

⁸But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. ⁹No one in this house is greater than I. He’s kept nothing back from me except you, because you’re his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” ¹⁰Although she kept asking Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her. 

¹¹One day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. ¹²She grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he ran outside and left his clothes in her hand. 

¹³When she realized that he had gone but had left his clothes behind, ¹⁴she called her household servants and said to them, “Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵As soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.” 

¹⁶She kept Joseph’s clothes with her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried to fool around with me. ¹⁸But when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.” 

¹⁹When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, especially when she said, “This is what your slave did to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰So Joseph’s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept. 

While Joseph was in prison, ²¹the Lord was with him. The Lord reached out to him with his unchanging love and gave him protection. The Lord also put Joseph on good terms with the warden. ²²So the warden placed Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in that prison. Joseph became responsible for everything that they were doing. ²³The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made whatever he did successful.