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¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. And he took her, and went in to her.³ And she became pregnant, and gave birth to a son; and he named him Er.⁴ And she became pregnant again, and gave birth to a son; and she named him Onan.⁵ And she yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him.⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.⁷ And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. And Yahweh slew him.⁸ And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother.⁹ And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.¹⁰ And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and he slew him also.¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah my son is grown up; for he said, Or else he will also die, like his brothers. And Tamar went and remained in her father's house.

¹² And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Look, your father-in-law goes up to Timnah to shear his sheep.¹⁴ And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as wife.¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute; for she had covered her face.¹⁶ And he turned to her by the way, and said, Come, I pray you, let me come in to you: for he didn't know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me, that you may come in to me?¹⁷ And he said, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and had sex with her, and she became pregnant by him.¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.²⁰ And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand: but he didn't find her.²¹ Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There has been no prostitute here.²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, There has been no prostitute here.²³ And Judah said, Let her take it to her, or else we will be put to shame: look, I sent this young goat, and you haven't found her.

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has prostituted; and moreover, look, she's pregnant by prostitution. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, I am pregnant: and she said, Discern, I pray you, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff.²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She's more righteous than I; since I didn't give her to Shelah my son. And he didn't have sex with her again.²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, look, twins were in her womb.²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, look, his brother came out: and she said, Why have you made a breach for yourself? Therefore his name was called Perez.³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread on his hand: and his name was called Zerah.