Judah begetteth Er, Onan, and Shelah.

1 ¶ And it came to pass² at that² time,º that Judahº went downºª from²² his brethren,º and turned¹ª in² to² a certainº Adullamite,º whose nameº [was] Hirah.º 2 And Judahº sawºª there² a daughterº of a certainº Canaanite,º whose nameº [was] Shuah;º and he took² her,¹ª and went inºª unto² her. 3 And she conceived,ºª and bareºª a son;º and he calledºª² his nameº Er.º 4 And she conceivedºª again,² and bareºª a son;º and she calledºª² his nameº Onan.º 5 And she yet again² conceived,ºª and bareºª a son;º and calledºª² his nameº Shelah:º and he was² at Chezib,º when she bareºª him.

Er marrieth Tamar.

6 And Judahº tookºª a wifeº for Erº his firstborn,º whose nameº [was] Tamar.º 7 And Er,º Judah'sº firstborn,º was² wickedº in the sightº of the LORD;º and the LORDº slewºª him.

The trespass of Onan.

8 And Judahº saidºª unto Onan,º Go inºª unto² thy brother'sº wife,º and marryºª her, and raise upºª seedº to thy brother.º 9 And Onanº knewºª that² the seedº should not² be² his; and it came to pass,² whenº he went inºª unto² his brother'sº wife,º that he spilledºª [it] on the ground,º lestº that he should giveºª seedº to his brother.º 10 And the thing whichº he didºª displeasedº¹ª² the LORD:º wherefore he slewºª him also.²

Tamar stayeth for Shelah.

11 Then saidºª Judahº to Tamarº his daughter in law,º Remainºª a widowº at thy father'sº house,º till² Shelahº my sonº be grown:ºª for² he said,ºª Lest peradventure² he² dieºª also,² as his brethrenº [did]. And Tamarº went¹ª² and dweltºª in her father'sº house.º

12 ¶ And in process¹ª of timeº² the daughterº of Shuahº Judah'sº wifeº died;ºª and Judahº was comforted,ºª and went upºª unto² his sheepshearersººª to Timnath,º he² and his friendº Hirahº the Adullamite.º

She deceiveth Judah.

13 And it was toldºª Tamar,º saying,ºª Behold² thy father in lawº goeth upºª to Timnathº to shearºª his sheep.º 14 And she putºª her widow'sº garmentsº off¹ª from²² her, and covered² her¹ª with a vail,º and wrapped herself,ºª and sat² in¹ª an open¹² place,º which² [is] by² the wayº to Timnath;º for² she sawºª that² Shelahº was grown,ºª and she² was not² givenºª unto him to wife.º 15 When Judahº saw² her,¹ª he thoughtºª her [to be] an harlot;ºª because² she had coveredºª her face.º 16 And he turnedºª unto² her by² the way,º and said,ºª Go to,ºª I pray thee,² let me come inºª unto² thee; (for² he knewºª not² that² she² [was] his daughter in law.)º And she said,ºª What² wilt thou giveºª me, that² thou mayest come inºª unto² me? 17 And he said,ºª I² will sendºª [thee] a kidºº from² the flock.º And she said,ºª Wilt thou giveºª [me] a pledge,º till² thou sendºª [it]? 18 And he said,ºª What¹² pledgeº shall I giveºª thee? And she said,ºª Thy signet,º and thy bracelets,º and thy staffº that² [is] in thine hand.º And he gaveºª [it] her, and came inºª unto² her, and she conceivedºª by him. 19 And she arose,ºª and went away,¹ª² and laid byºª her vailº from²² her, and put onºª the garmentsº of her widowhood.º 20 And Judahº sentºª² the kidºº by the handº of his friendº the Adullamite,º to receiveºª [his] pledgeº from the woman'sº hand:º² but he found² her¹ª not.² 21 Then he askedºª² the men¹² of that place,º saying,ºª Where² [is] the harlot,º that² [was] openly¹² by² the way side?º And they said,ºª There was² no² harlotº in thisº [place]. 22 And he returnedºª to² Judah,º and said,ºª I cannotº findºª her; and also² the men¹² of the placeº said,ºª [that] there was² no² harlotº in this² [place]. 23 And Judahº said,ºª Let her takeºª [it] to her, lest² we be² shamed:º behold,² I sentºª this² kid,º and thou² hast not² foundºª her.

24 ¶ And it came to pass² about threeº² monthsº after, that it was toldºª Judah,º saying,ºª Tamarº thy daughter in lawº hath played the harlot;ºª and also,² behold,² she [is] with childº by whoredom.º And Judahº said,ºª Bring her forth,ºª and let her be burnt.ºª 25 When she² [was] brought forth,ºª she² sentºª to² her father in law,º saying,ºª By the man,º whose² these² [are, am] I² with child:º and she said,ºª Discern,ºª I pray thee,² whose² [are] these,² the signet,º and bracelets,º and staff.º 26 And Judahº acknowledgedºª [them], and said,ºª She hath been more righteousºª than² I; because² that²² I gaveºª her not² to Shelahº my son.º And he knew² her¹ª againºª no² more.²

She beareth twins, Pharez and Zarah.

27 ¶ And it came to pass² in the timeº of her travail,ºª that, behold,² twinsº [were] in her womb.º 28 And it came to pass,² when she travailed,ºª that [the one] put outºª [his] hand:º and the midwifeºª tookºª and boundºª upon² his handº a scarlet thread,º saying,ºª This² came outºª first.º 29 And it came to pass,² as he drew backºª his hand,º that, behold,² his brotherº came out:ºª and she said,ºª How² hast thou broken forth?ºª [this] breachº [be] upon² thee: therefore his nameº was calledºª Pharez.º 30 And afterwardº came outºª his brother,º that² had the scarlet threadº upon² his hand:º and his nameº was calledºª Zarah.º