CHAPTER 38
1 In the same time, Judah went down from his brethren, and turned to a man of Adullam, Hirah by name;
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,
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.
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.
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.
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;
10 and therefore the Lord smote him, for he did 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; for he dreaded lest also he should die as his brethren. And 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; 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 widowhood, and she took a rochet cloth or veil 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 taken him into husband.
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; 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.
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,
19 and she rose, and went [away]; and when the cloth or veil was put away which she had taken, she was clothed 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,
21 he asked men of that place, Where is the woman that sat in the way-lot? And when all 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.
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.
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, that she be burnt.
25 And when she was led 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?
26 And when the gifts were known, Judah said, She is more just [or rightwise] than I, for I gave not her to Shelah, my son; nevertheless Judah knew her no more fleshly.
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.
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 Perez.
30 Afterward his brother went out, in whose hand was the red thread, whom she called Zarah, that is, Redness.