Judah marries a Canaanite
1It was around this time that Judah left his family and moved to the town of Adullam, where a man named Hirah lived. 2It was there that Judah met and married a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. They had sex. 3His wife got pregnant. She gave birth to a boy: Er. 4She got pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Onan. 5She gave birth to another son. She named him Shelah. He was born in the city of Kezib.6Judah arranged for Er, his oldest son, to marry a woman named Tamar. 7But Er was a terrible human being, downright evil. So God killed him.
8Judah told Er’s brother Onan, “It’s your responsibility now to take care of your brother’s widow. Marry her and give her a son so your brother will have someone to inherit his estate.” 9Onan knew that if Tamar got pregnant he would have to raise his brother’s child. According to the custom of the day, the child would not be his. [1] So to prevent her from getting pregnant, he pulled out early and released his semen onto the ground. 10God didn’t like that one bit. God killed him, too.
A widow who buried three husbands
11Judah told his daughter-in-law, the widow Tamar, “Move back home with your father and live there until my youngest son, Shelah, grows up.” Actually, Judah was stalling because he thought, “I’m afraid this son will end up dead, too.” Tamar moved back in with her father’s family. 12Years later, Judah’s wife died, the daughter of Shua. After the customary time of mourning, Judah went back to work. He and a man named Hirah from Adullam went to the village of Timnah. He went there to oversee the work of his sheepshearers. 13Someone told Tamar, “Hey, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to sheer his sheep.”Judah thought she was a prostitute
14Tamar changed her clothes. She took off the mourning clothes that widows wore. She put on the veil and clothes of a working gal who made a living renting herself out for sex. She parked herself at the gateway entrance into Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah. Tamar did this because she knew that Shelah had grown up and should have been married to her by now.15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a temple prostitute because she covered her face. 16Judah went over to her, alongside the road. He said, “Let me have sex with you.” He didn’t have any idea he was talking to his daughter-in-law. She said, “What are you going to give me for letting you have sex with me?” 17He said, “I’ll send you a young goat.” She said. “What collateral do you have to guarantee it?”
18“Well,” he answered, “What would it take?” She said, “I’ll take your signet ring and the cord it hangs on around your neck. I’ll take your walking stick, too.” Judah gave them to her. He had sex with her. She got pregnant. 19Tamar went back home, took off her veil, and changed back into her widow clothes.
Man with goat looking for prostitute
20Judah sent his friend from Adullam to deliver the young goat to the prostitute and to pick up the items he left with her as collateral. But she wasn’t there. 21Judah’s friend asked some men about her. “Where’s the temple prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” They said, “There’s no temple prostitute here.”22He went back to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her. The men there said ‘There’s no temple prostitute here.’” 23Judah said, “Let her keep the collateral I gave her. We already tried to deliver the goat. If we go back there again, walking around with another goat and asking for the temple prostitute, folks are going to laugh us out of town.”
Tamar arrested for her baby bump
24About three months later someone told Judah about Tamar’s baby bump. “Your daughter-in-law,” Judah was told, “has been fooling around like some kind of a hooker. And doggone if one of those hookups didn’t get her pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her here. She’s going to burn.”25As Tamar was getting arrested, she convinced someone to deliver this message to Judah: “The man who got me pregnant owns this signet ring, cord, and walking stick. Take a close look at them and you’ll figure out who the owner is."
26Judah recognized them right away. He said, “She’s a better person than I am. I didn’t let her marry my son Shelah.” Judah didn’t have sex with Tamar again.
27When time came for Tamar to deliver, they realized she was carrying twins. 28During the delivery, one of the babies stuck his hand out. The midwife running the delivery tied a scarlet string around the baby’s wrist. “This one came out first,” she said. 29Then the baby pulled his hand back in and what do you know, his brother came out first. They named him Breakout. [2] 30Next came the baby with the scarlet thread on his wrist. They named him Bright. [3]
