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The Blue Letter Bible

Genesis 38 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Judah and Tamar

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:1

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:1 - At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:2

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:2 - There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her;

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:3

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:3 - she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:4

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:4 - She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:5

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:5 - She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:6

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:6 - Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:7

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:7 - But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:8

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:8 - Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:9

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:9 - But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:10

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:10 - What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:11

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:11 - Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:12

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:12 - After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:13 - When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:14

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:14 - she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:15 - When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:16

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:16 - Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:17

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:17 - “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:18 - He said, “What pledge should I give you?” “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:19

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:19 - After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:20

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:20 - Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:21

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:21 - He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:22

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:22 - So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:23

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:23 - Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:24

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:24 - About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:25

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:25 - As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:26

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:26 - Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:27

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:27 - When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:28

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:28 - As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:29

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:29 - But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 38:30

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 38:30 - Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.[fn]
See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NIV Footnotes
Perez means breaking out.
Zerah can mean scarlet or brightness.
NIV

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.


See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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Genesis Chapter 38 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras