Genesis 38

Judah and Tamar

38At that time, Judah^u left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam^v named Hirah.^{w 2}There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.^x He married her and made love to her; ³she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.^{y 4}She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.^{z 5}She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah.^a It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

⁶Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.^{b 7}But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight;^c so the Lord put him to death.^d

⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”^{e 9}But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. ¹⁰What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.^f

¹¹Judah then said to his daughter-in-law^g Tamar,^h “Live as a widow in your father’s householdⁱ until my son Shelah^j grows up.”^k For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua,^l died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah,^m to the men who were shearing his sheep,ⁿ and his friend Hirah the Adullamite^o went with him.

¹³When Tamar^p was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”^{q 14}she took off her widow’s clothes,^r covered herself with a veil^s to disguise herself, and then sat down^t at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.^u For she saw that, though Shelah^v had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute,^w for she had covered her face. ¹⁶Not realizing^x that she was his daughter-in-law,^y he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”^z

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?”^a she asked.

¹⁷“I’ll send you a young goat^b from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge^c until you send it?” she asked.

¹⁸He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal^d and its cord, and the staff^e in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.^{f 19}After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes^g again.

²⁰Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite^h in order to get his pledgeⁱ back from the woman, but he did not find her. ²¹He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute^j who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

²²So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has,^k or we will become a laughingstock.^l After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

²⁴About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”

Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”^m

²⁵As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”ⁿ

²⁶Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I,^o since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.^p” And he did not sleep with her again.

²⁷When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.^{q 28}As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife^r took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist^s and said, “This one came out first.” ²⁹But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out,^t and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.^{au 30}Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist,^v came out. And he was named Zerah.^bw