Genesis 38

About that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to {the town of} Adullam and stayed near {the home of} a man from there whose name {was} Hirah.

{While he was living} there, he met a Canaanite woman whose father {was} Shua, and he married her. Then he had {marital} relations with her, \*

and she became pregnant. When she gave birth, she had a son, whom Judah named Er.

Then Judah’s wife became pregnant again and gave birth to {another} son, and she named him Onan.

Then she {became pregnant} yet again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Shelah. When she gave birth to Shelah, Judah was at {the town of} Chezib. \*

When Judah’s oldest son Er {grew up}, Judah arranged for him to marry a woman whose name {was} Tamar.

But Er did things that God considered to be evil, so God caused him to die. \*

After that, Judah told {his son} Onan, “Marry your brother’s widow {Tamar} {according to our custom} so that you fulfill your obligation to her {as her brother-in-law} and have children {with her} for your {deceased} brother.”

However Onan knew that the children {they would have together} would not belong to him. So whenever he had {marital} relations with Tamar, he wasted {his semen} on the ground to keep her from {getting pregnant and} having {any} children for his brother.

God considered what Onan did to be evil, so he caused him to die too. \*

Then Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “{Go and} live at your father’s house, and do not marry again until my son Shelah is old enough {to marry you}.” {Actually Judah did not want Shelah to marry Tamar} because he was afraid {that if he did,} he would also die like his brothers had. So Tamar went {home} to her father’s house and stayed there. \*

After a long time, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah finished mourning {for her}, {one day} he {decided to} go to {the town of} Timnah {to work} with {the men} who were shearing his sheep {there}. He and his friend Hirah, {who was} from {the town of} Adullam, {started traveling there together}.

Meanwhile someone told Tamar, “Listen, your father-in-law {Judah} is on his way to {the town of} Timnah to shear his sheep.”

So she changed from her clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a {thin} headscarf and dressed herself {like a prostitute}. Then {she went} toward {the town of} Timnah and sat down near the gateway of {the town of} Enaim, which {was} along the way. {She did that} because she had noticed that Shelah was now old enough {to marry}, but Judah had not given her to him to marry {as he was supposed to do}. \*

{As Judah was traveling to Timnah,} he saw Tamar {beside the road}, but since she had veiled her face {with a scarf}, {he could not see who she was, and} he assumed that she was a prostitute.

So he went over to where she was {sitting} beside the road and said {to her}, “Let me have sex with you.” {He did that} because he did not recognize that she was his daughter-in-law {Tamar}. So she asked {him}, “What will you pay me so that you can have sex with me?” \*

He answered {her}, “I will send {you} a young goat from my flock.” She replied, “{I will agree,} if you will give {me} something {valuable} {of yours} to keep until you deliver {the goat to me}.”

So Judah asked, “What do you want me to leave with you?” She answered {him}, “{Leave me} your name seal with its cord {that you have around your neck}, and your walking stick that you are holding.” So he gave {those things} to her. Then he had {sexual} relations with her, and she became pregnant from him. \*

After that, Tamar left {Judah} and returned {home}. Then she took off her scarf and put on her clothes that showed she was a widow.

Meanwhile Judah sent a young goat with his friend {Hirah}, {who was} from {the town of} Adullam, to reclaim his things from the prostitute {whom he had given them to}. But {when Hirah looked for her,} he was not able to find her. \*

So he asked {some} men {who lived} near the place where she had been, “Where {is} the temple prostitute who was {sitting} beside the road near {the town of} Enaim?” But they answered {him}, “There has never been a temple prostitute around here.”

So Hirah returned to Judah and told {him}, “I was not able to find the prostitute. In fact, the men who live near that town claim {that} there has never been a temple prostitute around there.”

Then Judah said, “{Stop looking for her and} let her keep {my things} for herself. Otherwise everyone will make fun of us. Besides that, I {did try to} send this goat {to her}, but you were not able to find her.” \*

About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has acted like a prostitute. In fact, look, {she is} {now} pregnant from doing that!” Judah responded {angrily}, “Take her outside {the town} and burn her {to death}!”

{So they went to get her, but} as they were taking her out {of the town}, she sent {a messenger} to her father-in-law {along with his things} and told the messenger to say, “The man who owns these things is the one who got me pregnant. Please identify {the man} who owns this name seal with its cord and this walking stick.”

Judah recognized {his things} and confessed, “Tamar is right, and I am wrong, because I refused to have my son Shelah marry her {as I was supposed to}!” {So they released Tamar,} and {after that} Judah never had {sexual} relations with her again. \*

Months later, when Tamar was ready to give birth, they realized that {there were} twins inside her!

While she was in labor, {one of them} stuck out {his} hand. So the midwife {who was there} tied a {bright} red string around his wrist and said, “This {baby} was born first.” \*

But then the baby pulled his hand back inside, and suddenly his brother was born {first} {instead}. So the midwife exclaimed {to the baby}, “What a dramatic way for you to burst out!” That is why he was named Perez, {which means “break out.”}

After that, his brother, who {had} the {bright} red string on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah, {which means “brightness.”} \*