Genesis 38

vayehi ba'et hahiv vayyered yehudah me'et ekhayw vayyet ad-ish adullami ushemo khirah

About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

vayyar-sham yehudah bat-ish kena'ani ushemo shua vayyiqqakheha vayyavo eleha

There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he took her to wife and cohabited with her.

vattahar vatteled ben vayyiqra et-shemo er

She conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er.

vattahar od vatteled ben vattiqra et-shemo onan

She conceived again and bore a son, and named him Onan.

vattosef od vatteled ben vattiqra et-shemo shelah vehayah vikhziv belidtah oto

Once again she bore a son, and named him Shelah; he was at Chezib when she bore him.

vayyiqqakh yehudah isha le'er bekhoro ushemah tamar

Judah got a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar.

vayehi er bekhor yehudah ra be'ene Adonai vayemitehu Adonai

But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to GOD, and GOD took his life.

vayyomer yehudah le'onan bo el-eshet akhikha veyabbem otah vehaqem zera le'akhikha

Then Judah said to Onan, “Join with your brother’s wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother.”

vayyeda onan ki lo lo yihyeh hazzara vehayah im-ba el-eshet akhiv veshikhet artsah levilti neton-zera le'akhiv

But Onan, knowing that the offspring would not count as his, let [the semen] go to waste whenever he joined with his brother’s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother.

vayyera be'ene Adonai asher asah vayyamet gam-oto

What he did was displeasing to GOD, who took his life also.

vayyomer yehudah letamar kallato shevi almanah vet-avikh ad-yigdal shelah veni ki amar pen-yamut gam-hu ke'ekhayw vattelekh tamar vatteshev bet aviha

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he thought, “He too might die like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

vayyirbu hayyamim vattamot bat-shua eshet-yehudah vayyinnakhem yehudah vayya'al al-gozeze tsono hu vekhirah re'ehu ha'adullami timnatah

A long time afterward, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When his period of mourning was over, Judah went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

vayyuggad letamar lemor hinneh khamikh oleh timnatah lagoz tsono

And Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshearing.”

vattasar bigde almenutah me'aleha vattekhas batsa'if vattitallaf vatteshev befetakh enayim asher al-derekh timnatah ki ra'atah ki-gadal shelah vehiv lo-nittenah lo le'isha

So she took off her widow’s garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife.

vayyireha yehudah vayyakhsheveha lezonah ki khissetah paneha

When Judah saw her, he took her for a prostitute; for she had covered her face.

vayyet eleha el-hadderekh vayyomer havah-nna avo elayikh ki lo yada ki khallato hiv vattomer mah-ttitten-li ki tavo elay

So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here, let me sleep with you”—for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. “What,” she asked, “will you pay for sleeping with me?”

vayyomer anokhi ashallakh gedi-izzim min-hatson vattomer im-titten eravon ad sholkhekha

He replied, “I will send a kid from my flock.” But she said, “You must leave a pledge until you have sent it.”

vayyomer mah ha'eravon asher etten-lakh vattomer khotamekha ufetilekha umattekha asher beyadekha vayyitten-lah vayyavo eleha vattahar lo

And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your seal and cord, and the staff that you carry.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him.

vattaqom vattelekh vattasar tse'ifah me'aleha vattilbash bigde almenutah

Then she went on her way. She took off her veil and again put on her widow’s garb.

vayyishlakh yehudah et-gedi ha'izzim beyad re'ehu ha'adullami laqakhat ha'eravon miyyad ha'isha velo metsa'ah

Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to redeem the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her.

vayyishal et-anshe meqomah lemor ayyeh haqqedeshah hiv va'enayim al-haddarekh vayyomeru lo-hayetah vazeh qedeshah

He inquired of the locals, “Where is the ‘attendant,’ the one at Enaim, by the road?” But they said, “There has been no ‘attendant’ here.”

vayyashov el-yehudah vayyomer lo metsatiha vegam anshe hammaqom ameru lo-hayetah vazeh qedeshah

So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her; moreover, the locals said: There has been no ‘attendant’ here.”

vayyomer yehudah tiqqakh-lah pen nihyeh lavuz hinneh shalakhti haggedi hazzeh ve'attah lo metsatah

Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. I did send her this kid, but you did not find her.”

vayehi kemishlosh khodashim vayyuggad lihudah lemor zanetah tamar kallatekha vegam hinneh harah liznunim vayyomer yehudah hotsi'uha vetissaref

About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; in fact, she is pregnant from whoredom.” “Bring her out,” said Judah. “She should be burned!”

hiv mutset vehi shalekhah el-khamiha lemor le'ish asher-elleh lo anokhi harah vattomer hakker-na lemi hakhotemet vehappetilim vehammatteh ha'elleh

As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “It’s by the man to whom these belong that I’m pregnant.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?”

vayyakker yehudah vayyomer tsadeqah mimmenni ki-al-ken lo-netattiha leshelah veni velo-yasaf od ledatah

Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again.

vayehi be'et lidtah vehinneh te'omim bevitnah

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb!

vayehi velidtah vayyitten-yad vattiqqakh hameyalledet vattiqshor al-yado shani lemor zeh yatsa rishonah

While she was in labor, one of them put out a hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand, to signify: This one came out first.

vayehi kemeshiv yado vehinneh yatsa akhiv vattomer mah-pparatsta alekha parets vayyiqra shemo parets

But just then it drew back its hand, and out came its brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.

ve'akhar yatsa akhiv asher al-yado hashani vayyiqra shemo zarakh

Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah.