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CHAPTER 38
1 In the same time, Judah went down from his brethren, and turned to a man of Adullam, Hirah by name; (At that time, Judah went forth from his brothers, and came to a man of Adullam, named Hirah;)
2 and he saw there a daughter of a man of Canaan, Shuah by name. And when he had taken her to wife, he entered [in] to her (or her slept with her),
3 and she conceived, and childed a son, and (he) called his name Er.
4 And again when another child was conceived, she named the child (that was) born, Onan.
5 And she childed the third son, whom she called Shelah, and when he was born, she ceased to bear child more (or she ceased to bear any more children). (And she bare her third son, whom she called Shelah, when she was at Chezib.)
6 Soothly Judah gave a wife, that was called Tamar, to his first begotten son Er.
7 And Er, the first begotten son of Judah, was wayward in the sight of the Lord, and therefore he was slain of the Lord (or and so the Lord killed him).
8 Therefore Judah said to Onan, his son, Enter thou [in] to the wife of thy brother, and be thou fellowshipped to her, that thou raise seed to thy brother. (And so Judah said to his son Onan, Sleep with thy brother’s wife, and be fellowshipped to her, and so raise thou up seed, or some sons, for thy brother.)
9 And he knew that sons should not be born to him; and he entered [in] to the wife of his brother, and shedded his seed into the earth, lest the free children should be born by the name of the dead brother; (But Onan knew that any sons who would be born would not be his; so he slept with his brother’s wife, but he poured out his seed onto the ground, so that no children would be born in the name of his dead brother;)
10 and therefore the Lord smote him (or and so the Lord struck him down), for he did (an) abominable thing.
11 Wherefore Judah said to Tamar, his son’s wife, Be thou a widow in the house of thy father, till Shelah my son waxed (or until my son Shelah hath grown up); for he dreaded lest also he should die as his brethren (did). And (so) she went, and dwelled in the house of her father.
12 Forsooth when many years were passed, the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife, died; and when comfort was taken after mourning, Judah went up to the shearers of his sheep, (or After many years had passed, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shuah, died; and after mourning her, when comfort was taken, Judah went up to his sheep-shearers); (yea), he and Hirah of Adullam, that was[the] keeper of the flock, went up into Timnath.
13 And it was told to Tamar, that her husband’s father went up into Timnath, to shear sheep.
14 And she did away the clothes of (her) widowhood, and she took a rochet cloth with many wrinkles, and when the clothing was changed, she sat in the way-lot that leadeth to Timnath; for Shelah had waxed, and she had not (yet) taken him into husband, (or for although Shelah was now a grown man, she had not been given to him for a wife).
15 And when Judah had seen her, he supposed her to be a whore; for she had covered her face, lest she was known.
16 And Judah entered to her, and said, Suffer me that I lie with thee, (or And Judah went over to her, and said, Let me lie down with you); for he knew not that she was the wife of his son. And when she answered, What shalt thou give to me, that thou lie with me?
17 he said, I shall send to thee a kid of the flocks. And again when she said, I shall suffer that that thou wilt, if thou shalt give to me a wed, till thou send that that thou promisest. (he said, I shall send thee a goat kid from the flocks. And she said, I shall give thee what thou desirest, if thou shalt give me a pledge, until thou send what thou hast promised.)
18 Judah said, What wilt thou that be given to thee for a wed? She answered, Thy ring, and thy band of the arm, and the staff which thou holdest in thine hand. Therefore the woman conceived at one lying-by, (Judah said, What desirest thou to be given to thee for a pledge? She answered, Thy ring, and thy arm band, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. And so he gave them to her, and lay with her, and the woman conceived in one lying-by,)
19 and she rose (up), and went [away]; and when the cloth was put away which she had taken, she was clothed (once again) in the clothes of widowhood.
20 Forsooth Judah sent a kid by his shepherd of Adullam, that he should receive the wed which he had given to the woman; and when he had not found her, (And Judah sent a goat kid by his shepherd from Adullam, so that he could receive back the pledge which he had given to the woman; and when Hirah could not find her,)
21 he asked men of that place, Where is the woman that sat in the way-lot? And when all (the) men answered, A whore was not in this place;
22 he turned again to Judah, and said to him, I found not her, but also the men of that place said to me, that a whore sat never there. (Hirah returned to Judah, and said to him, I could not find her, and the men of that place told me, that a whore never sat there.)
23 Judah said, Have she (those things) to herself, that we be not despised, certainly she may not reprove us of a leasing; I sent the kid which I promised, and thou foundest not her. (And Judah said, Let her have those things for herself, so that we be not despised, certainly she cannot rebuke us for lying; I sent the goat kid which I promised, but thou could not find her.)
24 Lo! soothly after three months they told to Judah, and said, Tamar, thy son’s wife, hath done fornication, and her womb seemeth to wax great. Judah said, Bring her forth, (so) that she (can) be burnt(!).
25 And when she was led (out) to her pain, she sent to her husband’s father, and said, I have conceived of the man, whose these things be; know thou whose is the ring, and the band of the arm, and the staff? (And when she was led out to her punishment, she sent to her husband’s father, and said, I have conceived by the man whose these things be; know thou whose ring, and arm band, and staff these be?)
26 And when the gifts were known, Judah said, She is more just than I, for I gave not her to Shelah, my son; nevertheless Judah knew her no more fleshly. (And when the gifts were seen, Judah said, She is more in the right than I am, for I did not give her to my son Shelah; but Judah did not know her fleshly anymore.)
27 Soothly when the childbearing nighed, two children appeared in the womb,
28 and in that birth of the children, one put forth the hand, in which hand the midwife bound a red thread, and said, This shall go out before. (and during the birth of the children, one put out his hand, and the midwife tied a red thread on his wrist, and said, This one shall go out first.)
29 Soothly while he withdrew the hand, the tother went out, and the woman said, Why, was the skin in which the child lay in the womb parted for thee? And for this cause she called his name Pharez. (But then he withdrew his hand, and the other one came out first, and the woman said to him, Was the skin in which the children lay in the womb, broken for thee to come out first? And for this reason she named him Perez, that is, Breaking out.)
30 Afterward his brother went out, in whose hand was the red thread, whom she called Zarah. (And afterward his brother came out, with the red thread tied about his wrist, and she called him Zarah, that is, Redness.)

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