Genesis 38 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah' firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. 8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother' wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother' wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father' house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did . And Tamar went and dwelt in her father' house. 12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah' wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14 And she put her widow' garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it ? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman' hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place . 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place . 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. 24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them , and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. 27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

New International Reader’s Version

Judah and Tamar

1 At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went down to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a man from Canaan. His name was Shua. Judah married her and slept with her. 3 She became pregnant and had a son. They named him Er. 4 She became pregnant again and had another son. She named him Onan. 5 She had still another son. She named him Shelah. He was born at Kezib. 6 Judah got a wife for his eldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. 7 But Judah’s eldest son Er was evil in the LORD’s eyes. So the LORD put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Sleep with your brother’s wife. After all, you are her brother-in-law. So carry out your duty to her. Provide children for your brother.’ 9 But Onan knew that the children wouldn’t belong to him. So every time he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground. He did it so he wouldn’t provide children for his brother. 10 What he did was evil in the LORD’s eyes. So the LORD put him to death also. 11 Then Judah spoke to his daughter-in-law Tamar. He said, ‘Live as a widow in your father’s home. Wait there until my son Shelah grows up.’ Judah was thinking, ‘Shelah might die too, just like his brothers.’ So Tamar went to live in her father’s home. 12 After a long time Judah’s wife died. She was the daughter of Shua. When Judah got over his sadness, he went up to Timnah. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him. Men were clipping the wool from Judah’s sheep at Timnah. 13 Tamar was told, ‘Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to clip the wool from his sheep.’ 14 So she took off her widow’s clothes. She covered her face with a veil so people wouldn’t know who she was. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim. Enaim is on the road to Timnah. Tamar knew that Shelah had grown up. But she hadn’t been given to him as his wife. 15 Judah saw her. He thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face with a veil. 16 He didn’t realise that she was his daughter-in-law. He went over to her by the side of the road. He said, ‘Come. Let me sleep with you.’ ‘What will you give me to sleep with you?’ she asked. 17 ‘I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,’ he said. ‘Will you give me something that belongs to you?’ she asked. ‘I’ll keep it until you send the goat.’ 18 He said, ‘What should I give you?’ ‘Give me your official seal and the string that it hangs from,’ she answered. ‘And give me your walking stick.’ So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her. And she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil. She put on her widow’s clothes again. 20 Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat he had promised. He wanted to get back what he had given to the woman. But his friend Hirah couldn’t find her. 21 He asked the men who lived at Enaim, ‘Where’s the temple prostitute? She used to sit beside the road here.’ ‘There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here,’ they said. 22 So Hirah went back to Judah. He said, ‘I couldn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there didn’t know anything about her. They said, “There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here.” ’ 23 Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep what she has. I don’t want people making fun of us. After all, I did send her this young goat. We can’t help it if you couldn’t find her.’ 24 About three months later people brought word to Judah. They said, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of being a prostitute. Now she’s pregnant.’ Judah said, ‘Bring her out! Have her burned to death!’ 25 As Tamar was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. She said, ‘I am pregnant by the man who owns these.’ She continued, ‘Do you recognise this seal and string and walking stick? Do you know who they belong to?’ 26 Judah recognised them. He said, ‘She’s a better person than I am. I should have given her to my son Shelah, but I didn’t.’ Judah never slept with Tamar again. 27 The time came for Tamar to have her baby. There were twin boys inside her. 28 As the babies were being born, one of them stuck out his hand. So the woman helping Tamar took a bright red thread. The woman tied it on the baby’s wrist. She said, ‘This one came out first.’ 29 But he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out first instead. She said, ‘Just look at how you have forced your way out!’ So he was called Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the red thread on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah.