Read the Bible

¹ AND it came to pass at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Arlemite, whose name was Hirah.² And Judah saw there the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.³ And she conceived, and bore a son; and he called his name Er.⁴ And she conceived again, and bore a son; and he called his name Onan.⁵ And she conceived again, and bore a son; and he called his name Shelah; and after she bore him she stopped bearing.⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er, his first-born, whose name was Tamar.⁷ And Er, Judahs first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.⁸ And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brothers wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up an offspring to your brother.⁹ And Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; and it came to pass when he went in unto his brothers wife that he spilled the semen on the ground, lest that he should raise an offspring to his brother.¹⁰ And the thing which he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; wherefore he slew him also.¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your fathers house, until my son Shelah grows up; for he said. Lest he die also, as his brothers did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her fathers house.

¹² And in the course of time Shuahs daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Arlemite.¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold your father-in-law is going up to Timnath to shear his sheep.¹⁴ And she put off her widows dress, and adorned herself, and covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the parting of the road to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given to him to wife.¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face.¹⁶ And he turned to her by the way and said to her, Come, let me come in unto you (for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law). And she said, What will you give me that you may come in unto me?¹⁷ And he said, I will send you a kid from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge until you send it?¹⁸ And he said, What kind of a pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your ring and your robe and the staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her, and then went in unto her, and she conceived by him.¹⁹ And she arose and went away and took off her veil from her and put on the garments of her widowhood.²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Arlemite, to receive the pledge from the womans hand; but he could not find her.²¹ Then he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the harlot who sat at the parting of the road? And they said, There is no harlot here.²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, No harlot has been here.²³ And Judah said, Let her keep the pledge, lest I be laughed at; behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her.

²⁴ And it came to pass, about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the harlot; and moreover, she is with child because of her harlotry. And Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burned.²⁵ When they brought her out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man to whom these articles belong, I am with child; and she said, Determine whose they are, the ring, the robe, and the staff.²⁶ And Judah recognized them, and said, She is more righteous than I; because I did not give her in marriage to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail that, behold, there were twins in her womb.²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one of the babes put out his hand; and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out; and she said, What a breach has been made for you! Therefore his name was called Pharez.³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and she called his name Zarah.