And at that time Judah went away from his brothers, and turned aside to a man, an Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And there Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her. 3 And she conceived and gave birth to a son; and he named him Er. 4 And she conceived again and bore a son; and she named him Onan. 5 And yet again she bore a son, and named him Shelah; and Judak was in Kezib when she bore him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of Yehowah; and Yehowah killed 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 children for your brother. 9 And Onan knew that the children would not be his; and so when he went in to his brother's wife, he squandered the semen on the earth, so that he should not give any children to his brother. 10 And what he did was evil in the sight of Yehowah; and he killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah has grown; for he said, In case he also dies, like his brothers. And Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

12 And after a certain time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died; and after Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to the shearers of his flock, together with his companion Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was said to Tamar, See, your father-in-law goes up to Timnah to shear his flock. 14 And she took off the clothes of her widowhood, and covered herself with a veil, and shrouded herself; and sat in the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that although Shelah had grown, she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 And Judah saw her, and thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned to her beside the road, and said, Come; please let me come in to you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me so that you may come in to me? 17 And he said, I will send a young goat from the flock. And she said, Provided you give a pledge till you send it. 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your signet ring, and your cord, and your staff which you hold. And he gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she got up and went away, and took off her veil, and put on the clothes of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his companion the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he could not find her. 21 Then he asked the men of her place, Where is the prostitute* who was at Enaim beside the road? And they said, There has been no prostitute here. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I could not find her; and also the men of the place said, No prostitute has been here. 23 And Judah said, Let her keep my pledge, so that we shall not be shamed; see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her. * Heb qedeshah usually means a temple prostitute

24 And about three months later, it was told Judah, Tamar your daughter-in-law has committed adultery; and also now she is with child by adultery. And Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, and said, By the man to whom these belong I am with child; and she said, See then, whose these are, the signet, and the cord, and the staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more justified than me, since I have not given her to my son Shelah. And he never knew her again.

27 And at the time of her delivery, twins were in her womb; 28 and when she was giving birth, one of them put out a hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread, and tied it on his wrist, and said, This one came out first. 29 And as he drew back his hand, his brother came out; and she said, What a breach you have made for yourself! And he was named Perez.* 30 And afterwards his brother came out, on whose wrist was the scarlet thread; and he was named Zerah. * That is A breach