Judah and Tamar
1At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went down to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. 2There Judah met the daughter of a man from Canaan. His name was Shua. Judah married her and slept with her. 3She became pregnant and had a son. They named him Er. 4She became pregnant again and had another son. She named him Onan. 5She had still another son. She named him Shelah. He was born at Kezib.
6Judah got a wife for his oldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. 7But Judah’s oldest son Er was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death.
8Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. After all, you are her brother-in-law. So carry out your duty to her. Provide children for your brother.” 9But Onan knew that the children wouldn’t belong to him. So every time he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground. He did it so he wouldn’t provide children for his brother. 10What he did was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death also.
11Then Judah spoke to his daughter-in-law Tamar. He said, “Live as a widow in your father’s home. Wait there until my son Shelah grows up.” Judah was thinking, “Shelah might die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s home.
12After a long time Judah’s wife died. She was the daughter of Shua. When Judah got over his sadness, he went up to Timnah. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him. Men were clipping the wool from Judah’s sheep at Timnah.
13Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to clip the wool from his sheep.” 14So she took off her widow’s clothes. She covered her face with a veil so people wouldn’t know who she was. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim. Enaim is on the road to Timnah. Tamar knew that Shelah had grown up. But she hadn’t been given to him as his wife.
15Judah saw her. He thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face with a veil. 16He didn’t realize that she was his daughter-in-law. He went over to her by the side of the road. He said, “Come. Let me sleep with you.”
“What will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something that belongs to you?” she asked. “I’ll keep it until you send the goat.”
18He said, “What should I give you?”
“Give me your official seal and the string that it hangs from,” she answered. “And give me your walking stick.” So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her. And she became pregnant by him. 19After she left, she took off her veil. She put on her widow’s clothes again.
20Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat he had promised. He wanted to get back what he had given to the woman. But his friend Hirah couldn’t find her. 21He asked the men who lived at Enaim, “Where’s the temple prostitute? She used to sit beside the road here.”
“There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here,” they said.
22So Hirah went back to Judah. He said, “I couldn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there didn’t know anything about her. They said, ‘There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here.’ ”
23Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has. I don’t want people making fun of us. After all, I did send her this young goat. We can’t help it if you couldn’t find her.”
24About three months later people brought word to Judah. They said, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of being a prostitute. Now she’s pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out! Have her burned to death!”
25As Tamar was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. She said, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.” She continued, “Do you recognize this seal and string and walking stick? Do you know who they belong to?”
26Judah recognized them. He said, “She’s a better person than I am. I should have given her to my son Shelah, but I didn’t.” Judah never slept with Tamar again.
27The time came for Tamar to have her baby. There were twin boys inside her. 28As the babies were being born, one of them stuck out his hand. So the woman helping Tamar took a bright red thread. The woman tied it on the baby’s wrist. She said, “This one came out first.” 29But he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out first instead. She said, “Just look at how you have forced your way out!” So he was called Perez. 30Then his brother, who had the red thread on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah.
ይሁዳና ትዕማር
1በዚያም ወራት ይሁዳ ከወንድሞቹ ተለይቶ፣ ኤራስ ወደ ተባለ ዓዶሎማዊ ሰው ወረደ፤ እርሱም ዘንድ ለመኖር ቤቱ ገባ። 2እዚያም ሳለ፣ ይሁዳ የከነዓናዊውን የሴዋን ሴት ልጅ አየ፤ እርሷንም አግብቶ አብሯት ተኛ፤ 3እርሷም ፀንሳ ወንድ ልጅ ወለደች፤ ስሙም ዔር ተባለ። 4እንደ ገናም ፀንሳ ወንድ ልጅ ወለደች፤ ስሙን አውናን አለችው። 5አሁንም ደግማ ወንድ ልጅ ወለደች፤ ስሙንም ሴሎም ብላ አወጣችለት፤ እርሱንም የወለደችው ክዚብ በተባለ ቦታ ነበር።
6ይሁዳ የበኵር ልጁን ዔርን፣ ትዕማር የምትባል ሚስት አጋባው። 7የይሁዳ የበኵር ልጅ ዔር ግን በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ፊት ክፉ ነበር፤ እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) ቀሠፈው።
8በዚህ ጊዜ ይሁዳ አውናንን፣ “ዋርሳዋ እንደ መሆንህ ከወንድምህ ሚስት ጋር ሩካቤ ሥጋ በመፈጸም የወንድምህን ስም የሚያስጠራለት ዘር ተካለት” አለው። 9አውናን ግን የሚወለደው ልጅ የእርሱን ስም የሚያስጠራ እንደማይሆን ስላወቀ፣ ከወንድሙ ሚስት ጋር ሩካቤ ሥጋ በፈጸመ ቍጥር የወንድሙንም ስም የሚያስጠራ ልጅ እንዳይወልድ ዘሩን በምድር ላይ ያፈስስ ነበር። 10ይህም በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት ክፉ አድራጎት ሆኖ ስለ ተገኘ፣ እርሱንም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) በሞት ቀሠፈው።
11ከዚያም ይሁዳ ምራቱን ትዕማርን፣ “ልጄ ሴሎም ለአካለ መጠን እስኪደርስ ድረስ ወደ አባትሽ ቤት ሄደሽ መበለት ሆነሽ ብትኖሪ ይሻላል” አላት። ይህን ያለውም፣ ሴሎም እንደ ወንድሞቹ ተቀሥፎ ይሞትብኛል ብሎ ስለ ሠጋ ነበር። ትዕማርም እንዳላት ሄደች፤ በአባቷም ቤት ተቀመጠች።
12ከብዙ ጊዜ በኋላ የሹዓ ልጅ፣ የይሁዳ ሚስት ሞተች። ይሁዳ ከሐዘኑ ከተጽናና በኋላ ከዓዶላማዊው ከሒራ ጋር የበጎቹን ጠጕር የሚሸልቱ ሰዎች ወዳሉበት ወደ ተምና ሄደ።
13ሰዎቹም ለትዕማር፣ “ዐማትሽ የበጎቹን ጠጕር ወደሚሸልቱ ሰዎች ዘንድ ወደ ተምና እየሄደ ነው” አሏት። ይህን እንደ ሰማች 14የመበለትነት ልብሷን አውልቃ፣ ማንነቷ እንዳይታወቅ ፊቷን በሻሽ ተከናንባ ወደ ተምና በሚወስደው መንገድ ዳር ባለች ኤናይም በተባለች ከተማ መግቢያ ላይ ተቀመጠች፤ ይህን ያደረገችው፣ ሴሎም ለአካለ መጠን ቢደርስም፣ እርሷን እንዲያገባ አባቱ አለመፈለጉን ስላወቀች ነው።
15ፊቷ በሻሽ ተሸፋፍኖ ሲያያት፣ ይሁዳ ዝሙት ዐዳሪ መሰለችው። 16ምራቱ መሆኗን ባለማወቁ፣ እርሷ ወዳለችበት ወደ መንደሩ ዳር ጠጋ ብሎ፣ “እባክሽ አብሬሽ ልተኛ” አላት። እርሷም፣ “አብሬህ ብተኛ ምን ትሰጠኛለህ?” ብላ ጠየቀችው።
17“ከመንጋዬ መካከል አንድ የፍየል ጠቦት እልክልሻለሁ” አላት። እርሷም መልሳ፣ “ጠቦቱን እስክትልክልኝ ድረስ ምን መያዣ ትሰጠኛለህ?” ብላ ጠየቀችው።
18“ታዲያ ምን መያዣ ልስጥሽ?” አላት። እርሷም፣ “የማኅተም ቀለበትህን ከነማሰሪያው፣ እንደዚሁም ይህን በትርህን ስጠኝ” አለችው። የጠየቀችውን ሁሉ ሰጣትና አብሯት ተኛ፤ እርሷም ፀነሰች። 19ከዚያም ወደ መኖሪያዋ ተመልሳ፣ ሻሽዋን አውልቃ እንደ ወትሮዋ የመበለት ልብሷን ለበሰች።
20ይሁዳ በመያዣ ስም የሰጣትን ዕቃዎች ለማስመለስ የፍየሉን ጠቦት በዓዶሎማዊ ወዳጁ እጅ ላከላት፣ መልእክተኛው ግን ሴትየዋን ሊያገኛት አልቻለም። 21“በኤናይም ከተማ መግቢያ ከመንገዱ ዳር የነበረች ያቺ ዝሙት ዐዳሪ የት ደረሰች?” ሲል ጠየቃቸው። ሰዎቹም፣ “በዚህ አካባቢ ኧረ ምንም ዝሙት ዐዳሪ ታይታ አትታወቅም” አሉት።
22መልእክተኛውም ወደ ይሁዳ ተመልሶ፣ “ሴቲቱን ላገኛት አልቻልሁም፤ ነዋሪዎቹም ‘በዚህ አካባቢ እንደዚህች ያለች ዝሙት ዐዳሪ የለችም’ አሉኝ” ብሎ ነገረው።
23ይሁዳም፣ “እንግዲህ መያዣውን እንደ ያዘች ትቅር፣ አለዚያ መሣቂያ እንሆናለን። ለነገሩማ ይህን ፍየል ላክሁ፤ አንተም ፈልገህ አላገኘሃትም” አለ።
24ከሦስት ወር ያህል በኋላ፣ “ምራትህ ትዕማር ዘማዊ ሆናለች፤ ከዚህም የተነሣ አርግዛለች” ተብሎ ለይሁዳ ተነገረው።
ይሁዳም፣ “አውጧትና በእሳት ተቃጥላ ትሙት” አለ።
25እርሷም ተይዛ በምትወሰድበት ጊዜ ለዐማቷ፣ “እኔ ያረገዝሁት የእነዚህ ዕቃዎች ባለቤት ከሆነ ሰው ነው” ስትል ላከችበት፤ ደግሞም፣ “የማኅተሙ ቀለበት ከነማንጠልጠያውና በትሩ የማን እንደ ሆነ እስቲ ተመልከት” አለችው።
26ይሁዳም ዕቃዎቹን ዐውቆ፣ “ልጄ ሴሎም እንዲያገባት ባለማድረጌ፣ እርሷ ከእኔ ይልቅ ትክክል ናት” አለ። ከዚያም በኋላ ከእርሷ ጋር አልተኛም።
27የመውለጃዋ ጊዜ እንደ ደረሰም ፅንሷ መንታ መሆኑ ታወቀ። 28በምትወልድበትም ጊዜ አንደኛው እጁን አወጣ፤ አዋላጂቱም፣ “ይህኛው መጀመሪያ ወጣ” ስትል በእጁ ላይ ቀይ ክር አሰረችለት፤ 29ነገር ግን፣ እጁን መልሶ ሲያስገባ ወንድሙ ተወለደ። አዋላጂቱም “አንተ እንዴት ጥሰህ ወጣህ!” አለች፤ ከዚያም ስሙ ፋሬስ38፥29 ፋሬስ ማለት ጥሶ መውጣት ማለት ነው። ተባለ። 30ከዚያ በኋላ እጁ ላይ ቀይ ክር የታሰረለት ወንድሙ ተወለደ፤ ስሙም ዛራ38፥30 ዛራ የሚለው ደማቅ ቀይ ወይም ብሩህ እንደ ማለት ነው። ተባለ።
