| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah. | 1At that time Judah left his brothers and stayed with an Adullamite man named Hirah. |
| 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. Judah acquired her as a wife and had marital relations with her. |
| 3she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. | 3She became pregnant and had a son. Judah named him Er. |
| 4Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. | 4She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named 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 had yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib. |
| 6In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. | 6Judah acquired a wife for Er his firstborn; 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 evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD killed him. |
| 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, "Have sexual relations with your brother's wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise up a descendant 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 child would not be considered his. So whenever he had sexual relations with his brother's wife, he withdrew prematurely so as not to give his brother a descendant. |
| 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 evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD killed him too. |
| 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 Shelah my son grows up." For he thought, "I don't want him to die like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived 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 some time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. |
| 13Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” | 13Tamar was told, "Look, 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. | 14So she removed her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) |
| 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. | 16He turned aside to her along the road and said, "Come on! I want to have sex with you." (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, "What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?" |
| 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. | 17He replied, "I'll send you a young goat from the flock." She asked, "Will you give me 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. | 18He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She replied, "Your seal, your cord, and the staff that's in your hand." So he gave them to her and had sex with her. She became pregnant by him. |
| 19Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual. | 19She left immediately, removed her veil, and put on her widow's clothes. |
| 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. | 20Then Judah had his friend Hirah the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, but Hirah 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 who were there, "Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?" But they replied, "There has been no cult prostitute here." |
| 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 he returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, 'There has been no cult prostitute 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.” | 23Judah said, "Let her keep the things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn't 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. | 24After three months Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!" |
| 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?” | 25While they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong." Then she said, "Identify the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong." |
| 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 them and said, "She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn't give her to Shelah my son." He did not have sexual relations with her again. |
| 27When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. | 27When it was time for her 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.” | 28While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first." |
| 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 then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. She said, "How you have broken out of the womb!" So he was named Perez. |
| 30Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah. | 30Afterward his brother came out--the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand--and he was named Zerah. |
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