Genesis 38–39

CHAPTER 38

Judah and Tamar

¹Now it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain ^aAdullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^aShua; and he took her and went in to her.

³So she conceived and bore a son, and he named him ^aEr.

⁴Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she named him ^aOnan.

⁵And she bore still another son, and she named him ^aShelah; and it was at Chezib ¹that she bore him.

⁶Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

⁷But ^aEr, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so Yahweh put him to death.

⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “^aGo in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother.”

⁹And Onan knew that the ^aseed would not be his; and it happened that when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted it on the ground in order not to give seed to his brother.

¹⁰But what he did was displeasing in the sight of Yahweh; so He ^aput him to death also.

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^aLive as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ¹thought, “I am afraid lest he also die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹²And ¹after a considerable time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Then Judah was comforted, and he went up to his sheepshearers at ^aTimnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³Then it was told to Tamar, “¹Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^aTimnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴So she removed her widow’s garments from herself and ^acovered herself with a ¹veil and wrapped herself. And she sat at the entrance of ²Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^bshe had not been given to him as a wife.

¹⁵Then Judah saw her, and he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here now, 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 me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷He said, therefore, “I will send you a ¹young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?”

¹⁸Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^aYour signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹Then she arose and went. And she removed her ¹veil from herself and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰Then Judah sent the ¹young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.

²¹So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her ¹keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. Behold, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴Now it happened about three months later that it was told to Judah saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^alet her be burned!”

²⁵It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.” And she said, “^aPlease recognize this and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?”

²⁶And Judah recognized them and said, “^aShe is more righteous than I, inasmuch as ^bI did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ¹know her again.

²⁷Now it happened at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^atwins in her womb.

²⁸And it happened, while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

²⁹And then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. So she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^1aPerez.

³⁰Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^1aZerah.

CHAPTER 39

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

¹Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ¹from the ^aIshmaelites, who had brought him down there.

^2aAnd Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a ¹successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

³Now his master ^asaw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh ^bcaused all that he did to succeed in his hand.

⁴So Joseph ^afound favor in his sight and ¹attended on him; and he appointed him overseer over his house, and ^ball that he owned he gave in his hand.

⁵Now it happened that from the time he appointed him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, Yahweh ^ablessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus ^bthe blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.

⁶So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s hand; and with him there he did not ¹concern himself with anything except the ²food which he ³ate.

Now Joseph was ^abeautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.

⁷And it happened after these events ^athat his master’s wife ¹set her eyes on Joseph and said, “^bLie with me.”

⁸But ^ahe refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master ¹does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has given all that he owns into my hand.

⁹“^1aThere is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and ^bsin against God?”

¹⁰So it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

¹¹Now it happened ¹one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.

¹²Then she seized him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.

¹³Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

¹⁴that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a ¹Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I ²screamed.

¹⁵“Now it happened that when he heard that I raised my voice and ¹screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶And she placed his garment beside her until his master came home.

¹⁷Then she ^aspoke to him ¹with these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to laugh at me;

¹⁸and as I raised my voice and ¹screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Is Put into Jail

¹⁹Now it happened that when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “¹This is what your slave did to me,” ^ahis anger burned.

²⁰So Joseph’s master took him and ^aput him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.

²¹But ^aYahweh was with Joseph and ¹extended lovingkindness to him and ^bgave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

²²So the chief jailer ^agave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was ¹the one who did it.

^23aThe chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because ^bYahweh was with him; and whatever he did, ^cYahweh made to succeed.