1 ARST About that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to{ the town of} Adullam and stayed near{ the home of} a man from there whose name{ was} Hirah. BSB BSB: About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite.
2 ARST { While he was living} there, he met a Canaanite woman whose father{ was} Shua, and he married her. Then he had{ marital} relations with her, BSB BSB: There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
3 ARST and she became pregnant. When she gave birth, she had a son, whom Judah named Er. BSB BSB: So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.
4 ARST Then Judah’ s wife became pregnant again and gave birth to{ another} son, and she named him Onan. BSB BSB: Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan.
5 ARST Then she{ became pregnant} yet again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Shelah. When she gave birth to Shelah, Judah was at{ the town of} Kezib. BSB BSB: Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
6 ARST When Judah’ s oldest son Er{ grew up}, Judah arranged for him to marry a woman whose name{ was} Tamar. BSB BSB: Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 ARST But Er did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, so Yahweh caused him to die. BSB BSB: But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.
8 ARST After that, Judah told{ his son} Onan,“Marry your brother’ s widow{ Tamar}{ according to our custom} so that you fulfill your obligation to her{ as her brother- in- law} and have children{ with her} for your{ deceased} brother.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
9 ARST However Onan knew that the children{ they would have together} would not belong to him. So whenever he had{ marital} relations with Tamar, he wasted{ his semen} on the ground to keep her from{ getting pregnant and} having{ any} children for his brother. BSB BSB: But 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.
10 ARST Yahweh considered what Onan did to be evil, so he caused him to die too. BSB BSB: What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
11 ARST Then Judah told his daughter- in- law Tamar,“{ Go and} live at your father’ s house, and do not marry again until my son Shelah is old enough{ to marry you}.”{ Actually Judah did not want Shelah to marry Tamar} because he was afraid{ that if he did,} he would also die like his brothers had. So Tamar went{ home} to her father’ s house and stayed there. BSB BSB: Then 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.
12 ARST After a long time, Judah’ s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah finished mourning{ for her},{ one day} he{ decided to} go to{ the town of} Timnah{ to work} with{ the men} who were shearing his sheep{ there}. He and his friend Hirah,{ who was} from{ the town of} Adullam,{ started traveling there together}. BSB BSB: After 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.
13 ARST Meanwhile someone told Tamar,“Listen, your father- in- law{ Judah} is on his way to{ the town of} Timnah to shear his sheep.” BSB BSB: When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14 ARST So she changed from her clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a{ thin} headscarf and dressed herself{ like a prostitute}. Then{ she went} toward{ the town of} Timnah and sat down near the gateway of{ the town of} Enaim, which{ was} along the way.{ She did that} because she had noticed that Shelah was now old enough{ to marry}, but Judah had not given her to him to marry{ as he was supposed to do}. BSB BSB: she 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.
15 ARST { As Judah was traveling to Timnah,} he saw Tamar{ beside the road}, but since she had veiled her face{ with a scarf},{ he could not see who she was, and} he assumed that she was a prostitute. BSB BSB: When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.
16 ARST So he went over to where she was{ sitting} beside the road and said{ to her},“Let me have sex with you.”{ He did that} because he did not recognize that she was his daughter- in- law{ Tamar}. So she asked{ him},“What will you pay me so that you can have sex with me?” BSB BSB: Not 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 ARST He answered{ her},“I will send{ you} a young goat from my flock.” She replied,“{ I will agree,} if you will give{ me} something{ valuable}{ of yours} to keep until you deliver{ the goat to me}.” BSB BSB: “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 ARST So Judah asked,“What do you want me to leave with you?” She answered{ him},“{ Leave me} your name seal with its cord{ that you have around your neck}, and your walking stick that you are holding.” So he gave{ those things} to her. Then he had{ sexual} relations with her, and she became pregnant from him. BSB BSB: “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.
19 ARST After that, Tamar left{ Judah} and returned{ home}. Then she took off her scarf and put on her clothes that showed she was a widow. BSB BSB: Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
20 ARST Meanwhile Judah sent a young goat with his friend{ Hirah},{ who was} from{ the town of} Adullam, to reclaim his things from the prostitute{ whom he had given them to}. But{ when Hirah looked for her,} he was not able to find her. BSB BSB: Now 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.
21 ARST So he asked{ some} men{ who lived} near the place where she had been,“Where{ is} the temple prostitute who was{ sitting} beside the road near{ the town of} Enaim?” But they answered{ him},“There has never been a temple prostitute around here.” BSB BSB: He 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.
22 ARST So Hirah returned to Judah and told{ him},“I was not able to find the prostitute. In fact, the men who live near that town claim{ that} there has never been a temple prostitute around there.” BSB BSB: So 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 ARST Then Judah said,“{ Stop looking for her and} let her keep{ my things} for herself. Otherwise everyone will make fun of us. Besides that, I{ did try to} send this goat{ to her}, but you were not able to find her.” BSB BSB: “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.”
24 ARST About three months later, someone told Judah,“Your daughter- in- law Tamar has acted like a prostitute. In fact, look,{ she is}{ now} pregnant from doing that!” Judah responded{ angrily},“Take her outside{ the town} and burn her{ to death}!” BSB BSB: About 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!”
25 ARST { So they went to get her, but} as they were taking her out{ of the town}, she sent{ a messenger} to her father- in- law{ along with his things} and told the messenger to say,“The man who owns these things is the one who got me pregnant. Please identify{ the man} who owns this name seal with its cord and this walking stick.” BSB BSB: As 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?”
26 ARST Judah recognized{ his things} and confessed,“Tamar is right, and I am wrong, because I refused to have my son Shelah marry her{ as I was supposed to}!”{ So they released Tamar,} and{ after that} Judah never had{ sexual} relations with her again. BSB BSB: Judah 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.
27 ARST Months later, when Tamar was ready to give birth, they realized that{ there were} twins inside her! BSB BSB: When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28 ARST While she was in labor,{ one of them} stuck out{ his} hand. So the midwife{ who was there} tied a{ bright} red string around his wrist and said,“This{ baby} was born first.” BSB BSB: And 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.
29 ARST But then the baby pulled his hand back inside, and suddenly his brother was born{ first}{ instead}. So the midwife exclaimed{ to the baby},“What a dramatic way for you to burst out!” That is why he was named Perez,{ which means“break out.”} BSB BSB: But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.
30 ARST After that, his brother, who{ had} the{ bright} red string on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah,{ which means“brightness.”} BSB BSB: Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.