¹And it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a man, an Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in to her.

³And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

⁴And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

⁵And she once more bore a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was in Kezib when she bore him.

⁶And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

⁷And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh put him to death.

⁸And Judah said to Onan, Go in to the wife of your brother, and do a husband's brother's duty by her, and raise up seed for your brother.

⁹And Onan knew that the seed would not belong to him; and it happened that whenever he went in to the wife of his brother, he spoiled it to the land, so as not to give seed to his brother.

¹⁰And what he did was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he put him to death also.

¹¹And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Dwell as a widow in the house of your father until Shelah my son grows up — for he said, Lest he too die, like his brothers. And Tamar went and dwelled in the house of her father.

¹²And the days multiplied, and the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and he went up to the shearers of his flock, he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite, to Timnah.

¹³And it was told to Tamar, saying, Here, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flock.

¹⁴And she removed her widow's garments from over her, and she covered herself with the veil, and wrapped herself up, and she dwelled at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

¹⁵And Judah saw her, and reckoned her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶He turned aside to her at the roadside and said, “Come now, 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, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷And he said, “I will send a young goat of the she-goats from the flock.” And she said, “If you give a pledge until you send it.”

¹⁸And he said, “What is the pledge that I should give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹And she rose and went, and removed her veil from over her, and clothed herself in the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰And Judah sent the young goat of the she-goats by the hand of his neighbor the Adullamite, to take the pledge from the hand of the woman; but he did not find her.

²¹And he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the shrine prostitute, the one at Enaim by the road?” And they said, “There has been no shrine prostitute here.”

²²And he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no shrine prostitute here.’”

²³And Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we become an object of contempt; look, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴And it happened, about three months on, that it was told to Judah, saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has acted as a prostitute, and moreover, look, she is pregnant through prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”

²⁵She was being brought out when she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.” And she said, “Please recognize whose they are: this seal and these cords and this staff.”

²⁶And Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he did not continue to know her again.

²⁷And it happened at the time she gave birth, that look, twins were in her womb.

²⁸And it happened, as she was giving birth, that he put out a hand; and the midwife took, and tied scarlet on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

²⁹And it happened, as he drew back his hand, that look, his brother came out; and she said, “How you have burst open a breach on yourself!” And his name was called Perez.

³⁰And afterward his brother came out, the one who had the scarlet on his hand; and his name was called Zerah.