Chapter 38

Judah and Tamar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 Then 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.”

9 Onan 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 1offspring to his brother.

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

11 Then 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.

12 Now 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.

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

14 So 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.

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

16 So 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?”

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

18 He 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.

19 Then she arose and departed, and 1removed her 2veil and put on her widow’s garments.

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

21 He 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.”

22 So 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.’ ”

23 Then 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.”

24 Now 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!”

25 It 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?”

26 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 1have relations with her again.

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

28 Moreover, 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.”

29 But 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.

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

Chapter 39

Joseph’s Success in Egypt

1 Now 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.

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

3 Now his master asaw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord bcaused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 So 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.

5 It 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.

6 So 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.

7 It came about after these events athat his master’s wife 1looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “bLie with me.”

8 But 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?”

10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

11 Now 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.

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

13 1When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

14 she 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.”

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

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

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

Joseph Imprisoned

19 Now 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.

20 So 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.

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

22 The 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.

23 aThe 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.

Chapter 40

Joseph Interprets a Dream

1 Then it came about after these things, athe cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

2 Pharaoh was afurious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the acaptain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.

4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he 1took care of them; and they were in confinement for 2some time.

5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

6 1When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, 2behold, they were dejected.

7 He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “1aWhy are your faces so sad today?”

8 Then they said to him, “aWe have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “bDo not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, 1behold, there was a vine in front of me;

10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.

11 “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s 1hand.”

12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ainterpretation of it: the three branches are three days;

13 within three more days Pharaoh will 1lift up your head and restore you to your 2office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.

14 “Only 1keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please ado me a kindness 2by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

15 “For aI was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the 1dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;

17 and in the top basket there were some of all 1sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

20 Thus it came about on the third day, which was aPharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; band he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his 1office, and ahe put the cup into Pharaoh’s 2hand;

22 but ahe hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.