Genesis 38–39

Judah and Tamar

38And it happened that at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite there whose name was Shua. And he took her and went in to her. ³And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. ⁴And she conceived again and bore a son, and he called his name Onan. ⁵And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he^a was in Chezib when she bore him. ⁶And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh killed him. ⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹But Onan knew that the offspring would not be for him, so whenever he went in to the wife of his brother he would waste it on the ground^b so as not to give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰And what he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so he killed him also. ¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Stay a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up,” for he feared he would also die^c like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father. ¹²And in the course of time^d the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah. ¹³And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴So she removed the clothes of her widowhood and covered herself with the veil and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance to Eynayim, which is on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown but she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵And Judah saw her and reckoned her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give to me that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷And he said, “I will send a kid from the goats of the flock.” And she said, “Only if you give a pledge until you send it.” ¹⁸And he said, “What is the pledge that I must give to you?” And she said, “your seal, your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him. ¹⁹And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰And Judah sent the kid from the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he could not find her. ²¹So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is that cult prostitute that was at Eynayim by the roadside?” And they said, “There is no cult prostitute here.” ²²Then he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her. Morever, the men of the place said, ‘There is no cult prostitute here.’ ” ²³And Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be laughed at.^e Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her.” ²⁴And about three months later^f it was told to Judah, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned.” ²⁵She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, “By the man to whom these belong I have conceived.” And she said, “Now discern^g to whom these belong: the seal and cord and the staff.” ²⁶Then Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know^h her again. ²⁷And it happened that at the time she gave birth that, behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸And it happened that at her labor one child put out a hand. And the midwife took it and tied a crimson thread on his hand saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹Then his hand drew back and, behold, his brother came out, and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” And she called his name Perez. ³⁰And afterward his brother who had the crimson thread on his hand came out. And his name was called Zerah.

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ²And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³And his master observed that Yahweh was with him, and everything that was in his hand to do Yahweh made successful. ⁴And Joseph found favor in his eyes and he served him. Then he appointed him^a over his house and all that he owned he put into his hand. ⁵And it happened that from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. And the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶And he left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and he did not worry about anything^b except the food that he ate. Now Joseph was well built and handsome.^{c 7}And it happened that after these things his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” ⁸But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not worry about^d what is in the house, and everything he owns he has put in my hand. ⁹He has no greater authority in this house than me, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, since you are his wife. Now how could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” ¹⁰And it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day,^e he did not heed her to lie beside her or to be with her. ¹¹But one particular day^f he came into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house were there in the house, ¹²she seized him by his garment and said, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and he went outside. ¹³And it happened that when she saw that he left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴she called to the men of her house and said to them, “Look! He^g brought a Hebrew man to us to mock us! He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵And when he heard me, that I raised my voice and called out, he left his garment beside me and fled, and he went outside.” ¹⁶Then she put his garment beside her until his master came to his house. ¹⁷Then she spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave that you brought to us came to me to make fun of me. ¹⁸And it happened that as I raised my voice and called out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” ¹⁹And when his master heard the words of his wife that she spoke to him, “This is what your servant did to me,”^h he became very angry.^{i 20}And Joseph’s master took him and put him into prison, the place that the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison. ²¹And Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed loyal love to him, and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison. ²²And the chief of the prison put all the prisoners that were in the prison into the hand of Joseph. And everything that was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³The chief of the prison did not worry about^j anything in his^k hand, since Yahweh was with him. And whatever he did Yahweh made it successful.