Genesis 38
38
Judah and Tamar
1It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and #2 Kin. 4:8visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. 2And Judah #Gen. 34:2saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was #1 Chr. 2:3Shua, and he married her and went in to her. 3So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name #Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:19Er. 4She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name #Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:19Onan. 5And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name #Num. 26:20Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.
6Then Judah #Gen. 21:21took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was #Ruth 4:12Tamar. 7But #Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:19Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, #1 Chr. 2:3and the Lord killed him. 8And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to #Deut. 25:5, 6; Matt. 22:24your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” 9But Onan knew that the heir would not be #Deut. 25:6his; 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 displeased the Lord; therefore He killed #Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:19him also.
11Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, #Ruth 1:12, 13“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 #Lev. 22:13in her father’s house.
12Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah #2 Sam. 13:39was 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 #Josh. 15:10, 57; Judg. 14:1to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and #Prov. 7:12sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw #Gen. 38:11, 26that 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, #Judg. 15:1; Ezek. 16:33“I will send a young goat from the flock.”
So she said, #Gen. 38:20“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”
18Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”
So she said, #Gen. 38:25; 41:42“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 #Gen. 38:14laid 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 openly 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 #Judg. 19:2played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.”
So Judah said, “Bring her out #Lev. 20:14; 21:9; Deut. 22:21and 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, #Gen. 37:32; 38:18“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”
26So Judah #Gen. 37:33acknowledged them and said, #1 Sam. 24:17“She has been more righteous than I, because #Gen. 38:14I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he #Job 34:31, 32never 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 #Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:20; Ruth 4:12; 1 Chr. 2:4; Matt. 1:3Perez. 30Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called #Gen. 46:12; 1 Chr. 2:4; Matt. 1:3Zerah.
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Genesis 38: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 38
38
Judah and Tamar
1At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went down to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. 2There Judah met the daughter of a man from Canaan. His name was Shua. Judah married her and slept with her. 3She became pregnant and had a son. They named him Er. 4She became pregnant again and had another son. She named him Onan. 5She had still another son. She named him Shelah. He was born at Kezib.
6Judah got a wife for his oldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. 7But Judah’s oldest son Er was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death.
8Then 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.” 9But 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. 10What he did was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death also.
11Then 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.
12After 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.
13Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to clip the wool from his sheep.” 14So 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.
15Judah saw her. He thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face with a veil. 16He didn’t realize 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.”
18He 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. 19After she left, she took off her veil. She put on her widow’s clothes again.
20Judah 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. 21He 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.
22So 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.’ ”
23Then 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.”
24About 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!”
25As 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 recognize this seal and string and walking stick? Do you know who they belong to?”
26Judah recognized 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.
27The time came for Tamar to have her baby. There were twin boys inside her. 28As 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.” 29But 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. 30Then his brother, who had the red thread on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah.
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