1And it came to pass at that time, that Yehudah went down from his achim, and turned in to an ish Adullami shmo Chirah.

2And Yehudah saw there a bat ish Kena'ani shmo Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.

3She conceived, and bore ben; and he called shmo Er.

4And she conceived again, and bore ben; and she called shmo Onan.

5And she yet again conceived, and bore ben; and called shmo Shelah; at Keziv, when she bore him.

6And Yehudah took a wife for Er his bechor, whose shem was Tamar.

7And Er, bechor Yehudah, was rah in the eyes of Hashem; and Hashem slaughtered him.

8And Yehudah said unto Onan, Go in unto eshet achicha, and enter into levirate marriage with her, and raise up zera to achicha.

9And Onan knew that the zera should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto eshet achiv, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give zera to achiv.

10And the thing which he did was rah in the eyes of Hashem; therefore He slaughtered him also.

11Then said Yehudah to Tamar his shnur, Remain an almanah at thy bais avi, till Shelah beni is grown; for he said, Lest he die also, as his achim did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her bais avi.

12And in process of time the bat Shua, eshet Yehudah, died; and Yehudah was consoled, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his re'a Chirah the Adullami.

13And it was told Tamar, saying, Hinei, thy shver (father-in-law) goeth up to Timnah to shear his tzon.

14And she put off her widowʼs garments from her, and covered her with a tze'if (veil, shleier), and disguised herself, and sat at the entrance of Einayim which is on the derech to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him as isha.

15When Yehudah saw her, he thought her to be a zonah; because she had covered her face.

16And he turned unto her by the derech, and said, Come now, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his shnur [daughter-in-law]). And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

17And he said, I will send thee a gedi izzim (kid of the goats). And she said, Wilt thou give me an eravon (pledge, mashkn), till thou send it?

18And he said, What eravon shall I give thee? And she said, Thy chotam (signet), and thy [signet neck] cord, and thy staff that is in thine yad. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

19And she arose, and went away, and took off her tze'if (veil, shleier) from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20And Yehudah sent the gedi izzim by the yad of his friend the Adullami, to get back his eravon (pledge, mashkn) from the yad haisha; but he found her not.

21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the kedesha (cult prostitute) that was on the crossroads by the derech? And they said, There was no kedesha in this place.

22And he returned to Yehudah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no kedesha in this place.

23And Yehudah said, Let her take for herself, lest we become buz (laughingstock, shpot); hinei, I sent this gedi, and thou hast not found her.

24And it came to pass about shlosh chadashim (three months) later, that it was told Yehudah saying, Tamar thy shnur hath played the zonah; and also, hinei, she is with child by zenunim (whoredom). And Yehudah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burned.

25When she was brought forth, she sent to her shver (father-in-law), saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child; and she said, Discern, now, whose are these, the chotam (signet), and the [signet neck] cord, and the staff.

26And Yehudah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more tzadekah than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah beni. And he knew her again no more.

27And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, hinei te'omim (twin boys) were in her beten.

28And it came to pass, when she travailed in labor, that the one put out his yad; and the midwife took and bound upon his yad a scarlet thread, saying, This came out rishonah (first).

29And it came to pass, as he drew back his yad, that, hinei, his brother came out; and she said, How hast paratzta (thou broken out)? This paretz (breach, breaking) be upon thee; therefore shmo was called Peretz [Breaking out].

30And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his yad; and shmo was called Zerach.