Judah and Tamar
1. About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite.
2. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua and took her as a wife; he slept with her,
3. and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er.
4. Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she named him Onan.
5. And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and she named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she bore him.
6. So Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.
8. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
9. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his seed on the ground to avoid fathering offspring for his brother.
10. What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so He put him to death also.
11. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12. After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers.
13. And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14. she removed her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
15. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
16. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17. “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18. “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
19. After she had arisen, she left and removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
20. Meanwhile, Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the pledge from the woman, but he could not find her.
21. He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they answered.
22. So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Besides, the men who live there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23. Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”
24. About 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!”
25. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.” And she added, “Please examine these. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
26. Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
The Birth of Perez and Zerah
27. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28. And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”
29. But when he pulled his hand back, his brother came out. “What!” exclaimed the midwife. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez.
30. Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.