Genesis 38 (NET)

Genesis 38:1¹At that time Judah left his brothers and stayed with an Adullamite man named Hirah.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:2²There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. Judah acquired her as a wife and slept with her.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:3³She became pregnant and had a son. Judah named him Er.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:4⁴She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:5⁵Then she had yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:6⁶Judah acquired a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:7⁷But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord ’s sight, so the Lord killed him.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:8⁸Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise up a descendant for your brother.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:9⁹But Onan knew that the child would not be considered his. So whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he wasted his emission on the ground so as not to give his brother a descendant.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:10¹⁰What he did was evil in the Lord ’s sight, so the Lord killed him too.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:11¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:12¹²After some time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:13¹³Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:14¹⁴So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.)Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:15¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:16¹⁶He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come, please, I want to sleep with you.” (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me so that you may sleep with me?”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:17¹⁷He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:18¹⁸He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her, then slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:19¹⁹She left immediately, removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:20²⁰Then Judah had his friend Hirah the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, but Hirah could not find her.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:21²¹He asked the men who were there, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:22²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:23²³Judah said, “Let her keep the things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:24²⁴After three months Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:25²⁵While they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” Then she said, “Identify the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:26²⁶Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He was not physically intimate with her again.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:27²⁷When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:28²⁸While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:29²⁹But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” So he was named Perez.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s

Genesis 38:30³⁰Afterward his brother came out—the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand—and he was named Zerah.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’s