Genesis 38–39

Judah and Tamar

38It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and ^avisited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah ^bsaw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^cShua, and he married her and went in to her. ³So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^dEr. ⁴She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^eOnan. ⁵And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name ^fShelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

⁶Then Judah ^gtook a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was ^hTamar. ⁷But ⁱEr, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, ^jand the Lord killed him. ⁸And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^kyour brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” ⁹But Onan knew that the heir would not be ^lhis; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. ¹⁰And the thing which he did ¹displeased the Lord; therefore He killed ^mhim also.

¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ⁿ“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt ^oin her father’s house.

¹²Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah ^pwas comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up ^qto Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and ^rsat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw ^sthat Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷And he said, ^t“I will send a young goat from the flock.”

So she said, ^u“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

¹⁸Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”

So she said, ^v“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹So she arose and went away, and ^wlaid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. ²¹Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was ²openly by the roadside?”

And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”

²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

²⁴And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has ^xplayed the harlot; furthermore she is ³with child by harlotry.”

So Judah said, “Bring her out ^yand let her be burned!”

²⁵When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, ^z“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

²⁶So Judah ^aacknowledged them and said, ^b“She has been more righteous than I, because ^cI did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he ^dnever knew her again.

²⁷Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called ^ePerez. ⁴³⁰Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called ^fZerah.

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39Now Joseph had been taken ^adown to Egypt. And ^bPotiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^cbought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ^2dThe Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^emade all he did ¹to prosper in his hand. ⁴So Joseph ^ffound favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^goverseer of his house, and all that he had he put ²under his authority. ⁵So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^hthe Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ³hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ⁴bread which he ate.

Now Joseph ⁱwas handsome in form and appearance.

⁷And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife ⁵cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ^j“Lie with me.”

⁸But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. ^kHow then can I do this great wickedness, and ^lsin against God?”

¹⁰So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he ^mdid not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹²that she ⁿcaught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a ^oHebrew to ⁶mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she ^pspoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his ^qanger was aroused. ²⁰Then Joseph’s master took him and ^rput him into the ^sprison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He ^tgave ⁷him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²²And the keeper of the prison ^ucommitted to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ⁸Joseph’s authority, because ^vthe Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.