| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah. | 1About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. |
| 2There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her, | 2There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her. |
| 3she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. | 3So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er. |
| 4Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. | 4Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. |
| 5And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib. | 5Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him. |
| 6In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. | 6Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. |
| 7But Er was a wicked man in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD took his life. | 7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death. |
| 8Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.” | 8Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.” |
| 9But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. | 9But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. |
| 10But the LORD considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the LORD took Onan’s life, too. | 10What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well. |
| 11Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” (But Judah didn’t really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went back to live in her father’s home. | 11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house. |
| 12Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. | 12After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. |
| 13Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” | 13When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” |
| 14Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. | 14she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. |
| 15Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face. | 15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. |
| 16So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law. “How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked. | 16Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired. |
| 17“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised. “But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked. | 17“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.” |
| 18“What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied. She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. | 18“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. |
| 19Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual. | 19Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again. |
| 20Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee. But Hirah couldn’t find her. | 20Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. |
| 21So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?” “We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied. | 21He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered. |
| 22So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her anywhere, and the men of the village claim they’ve never had a shrine prostitute there.” | 22So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’ ” |
| 23“Then let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah said. “I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you couldn’t find her. We’d be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again to look for her.” | 23“Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.” |
| 24About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.” “Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded. | 24About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!” |
| 25But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?” | 25As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?” |
| 26Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again. | 26Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again. |
| 27When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. | 27When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb. |
| 28While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.” | 28And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced. |
| 29But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez. | 29But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez. |
| 30Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah. | 30Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah. |
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