1 Now it was at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and visited an Adullamian man whose name was Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. And he took her as his wife, and went in to her. 3 And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. 4 And she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. 5 And yet another time she gave birth to a son, and she named him Shelah. Now he was at Keziv when she gave birth to him. 6 Then Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was bad in Yehovah’s eyes, and Yehovah killed him. 8 So Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and do your duty as her brother-in-law, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 Now Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his, so whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he let it go to waste on the ground so that he would not give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was bad in Yehovah’s eyes, and He killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up,” because he said to himself, “So he won’t also die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
12 Now many days passed, and Shua’s daughter, Judah’s wife, died. And Judah overcame his grief. And he went up to his sheep shearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamian, to Timnah. 13 And Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her widow’s clothing, and covered herself with her veil and wrapped herself, and she sat at the entrance of Enayim, which is on the way to Timnah; because she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she hadn’t been given to him as a wife. 15 And Judah saw her and he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned to her by the road and said, “Please let me come in to you,” because he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law.
And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
17 And he said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”
And she said, “Only if you give me collateral until you send it.”
18 And he said, “What’s the collateral I should give to you?”
And she said, “Your signet and your cord, and your walking stick that is in your hand.”
And he gave them to her and came in to her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 And she got up and went away, and took off her veil from herself, and put on her widow’s clothing. 20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamian, to get back the collateral from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her. 21 Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute who was at Enayim by the road?”
And they said, “There wasn’t any prostitute here!”
22 And he came back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There wasn’t any prostitute here!’” 23 And Judah said, “Let her keep them for herself, so we won’t be looked down on. Look, I sent this young goat, and you didn’t find her.”
24 Now it was, about three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been promiscuous. And also look, she is pregnant from promiscuity.”
And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned!” 25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.” She also said, “Please recognize whose these belong to—the signet, and the cords, and the walking stick.”
26 And Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he didn’t know her again.
27 Now it was, at the time of giving birth, look, twins were in her womb! 28 And it was, while giving birth, one put out a hand. And the midwife took a scarlet string and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 And it was, as he pulled back his hand, look, his brother came out! And she said, “How did you break through ahead of a breakthrough?” Therefore his name was called Peretz (which means Breakthrough). 30 Afterward his brother came out, who had the scarlet string on his hand, and his name was called Zeraḥ (which means Rising).