¹And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down leaving his brothers, and he turned aside to an Adullamite man whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man there, his name being Shua. And he took her and went in to her, ³and she conceived and bore a son, and he called him Er. ⁴And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called him Onan. ⁵And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and she called him Shelah, and he was in Chezib when she bore him. ⁶And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. ⁷Now Er Judah's firstborn was evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord killed him. ⁸And Judah said to Onan, “Go into your brother's wife and marry her as brother-in-law of the deceased and raise up seed to your brother.” ⁹But Onan knew that the seed would not be counted as his, and it came to pass, when he went to his brother's wife, that he spilt it on the ground, so as not to give seed to his brother. ¹⁰And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, and he killed him too. ¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in the house of your father until my son Shelah is grown up”, for he said, “I am concerned that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father. ¹²And many days went by, and the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died. And Judah was comforted, and he went up to those who shear his sheep – he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite – to Timnah. ¹³And it was reported to Tamar as follows: “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴And she took off her widow's clothes which were on her, and she screened herself with a veil and covered herself, and she sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah, for she had seen that Shelah had grown up but that she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵And Judah saw her, and he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶And he turned aside to her on the way and said, “Come on now, I will go in to you”, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me if you go in to me.” ¹⁷And he said, “I will send you a kid from the flock.” Then she said, “All right if you give me security until you have sent it.” ¹⁸And he said, “What is the security that I should give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹Then she got up and went back and took off her veil that was on her and put her widow's clothes on. ²⁰And Judah sent the kid of the goats via his friend the Adullamite, to recover the security from the woman. But he could not find her. ²¹And he asked the men of her place and said, “Where is the prostitute who was in Enaim by the road?” And they said, “There hasn't been a prostitute around here.” ²²So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and moreover the local men said, ‘There hasn't been a prostitute around here.’ ” ²³Then Judah said, “Let her take it any time, so that we do not come to be held in disdain. After all, I sent this kid, but you could not find her.” ²⁴Then it came to pass after three months that it was reported to Judah as follows: “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot, and moreover we have seen that she has become pregnant with her harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burnt.” ²⁵She was brought out, and she sent for her father-in-law and said, “I became pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” And she said, “Please identify whose this seal and cords and staff are.” ²⁶And Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I am, for this is because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And Judah did not know her any more. ²⁷And it came to pass at the time when she gave birth that there were twins in her womb. ²⁸And it came to pass, when she gave birth, that one put out a hand, and the midwife took hold of it and tied a scarlet band round his hand and said, “This came out first.” ²⁹Then it came to pass as he withdrew his hand that what happened was that his brother came out, and she said, “How you broke out! May the breaking out be upon you!” And he called him Perez. ³⁰And afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand the scarlet band was, and he called him Zerah.