Genesis 38–39

Chapter 38

Judah and Tamar

¹And it came about at that time, that Judah ¹departed from his brothers and ²visited a certain ^aAdullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²Judah 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 named him ^aOnan.

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

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

⁷But ^aEr, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life.

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 ¹offspring for your brother.”

⁹Onan knew that the ^1aoffspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he ²wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother.

¹⁰But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^atook his life also.

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

¹²Now ¹after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when ²the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at ^aTimnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

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

¹⁴So she ¹removed her widow’s garments and ^acovered herself with a ²veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of ³Enaim, 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.

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

¹⁶So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “¹Here 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?”

¹⁸He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^aYour seal 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 departed, and ¹removed her ²veil and put on her widow’s garments.

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

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

²³Then Judah said, “Let her ¹keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. ²After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, “¹Your 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 examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?”

²⁶Judah 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 ¹have relations with her again.

²⁷It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^atwins in her womb.

²⁸Moreover, it took place 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.”

²⁹But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then 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’s Success in Egypt

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

^2aThe Lord 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 the Lord was with him and how the Lord ^bcaused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

⁴So Joseph ^afound favor in his sight and ¹became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^ball that he owned he put in his ²charge.

⁵It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord ^ablessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus ^bthe Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.

⁶So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s ¹charge; and with him there he did not ²concern himself with anything except the ³food which he ⁴ate.

Now Joseph was ^ahandsome in form and appearance.

⁷It came about after these events ^athat his master’s wife ¹looked with desire at Joseph, and she 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 put all that he owns in my ²charge.

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?”

¹⁰As 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.

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

¹³¹When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

¹⁴she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a ¹Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I ²screamed.

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

¹⁶So she ¹left his garment beside her until his master came home.

¹⁷Then she ^aspoke to him ¹with these words, “²The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me;

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

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹Now 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 ^athe Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^bgave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

²²The chief jailer ^acommitted to Joseph’s ¹charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was ²responsible for it.

^23aThe chief jailer did not supervise anything under ¹Joseph’s charge because ^bthe Lord was with him; and whatever he did, ^cthe Lord made to prosper.