Beginning
Judah and Tamar
38 At that time Judah left[a] his brothers and stayed[b] with an Adullamite man[c] named Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.[d] Judah acquired her as a wife[e] and slept with her.[f] 3 She became pregnant[g] and had a son. Judah named[h] him Er. 4 She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan. 5 Then she had[i] yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib.[j]
6 Judah acquired[k] a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord killed him.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with[l] your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise up[m] a descendant for your brother.”[n] 9 But Onan knew that the child[o] would not be considered his.[p] So whenever[q] he slept with[r] his brother’s wife, he wasted his emission on the ground[s] so as not to give his brother a descendant. 10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord[t] killed him too.
11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought,[u] “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.”[v] So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
12 After some time[w] Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with[x] his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 Tamar was told,[y] “Look, your father-in-law is going up[z] to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because[aa] she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.)[ab]
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute[ac] because she had covered her face. 16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come, please, I want to sleep with you.”[ad] (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me so that you may sleep with me?” 17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?”[ae] 18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her, then slept with her,[af] and she became pregnant by him. 19 She left immediately,[ag] removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.
20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah[ah] the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge,[ai] but Hirah[aj] could not find her. 21 He asked the men who were there,[ak] “Where is the cult prostitute[al] who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” 22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” 23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things[am] for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest.[an] I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”
24 After three months Judah was told,[ao] “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution,[ap] and as a result she has become pregnant.”[aq] Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word[ar] to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.”[as] Then she said, “Identify[at] the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.” 26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright[au] than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He was not physically intimate with her again.[av]
27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 28 While she was giving birth, one child[aw] put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him.[ax] She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!”[ay] So he was named Perez.[az] 30 Afterward his brother came out—the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand—and he was named Zerah.[ba]
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt.[bb] An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard,[bc] purchased him from[bd] the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful[be] and lived[bf] in the household of his Egyptian master. 3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful.[bg] 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.[bh] Potiphar appointed Joseph[bi] overseer of his household and put him in charge[bj] of everything he owned. 5 From the time[bk] Potiphar[bl] appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed[bm] the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both[bn] in his house and in his fields.[bo] 6 So Potiphar[bp] left[bq] everything he had in Joseph’s care;[br] he gave no thought[bs] to anything except the food he ate.[bt]
Now Joseph was well built and good-looking.[bu] 7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of[bv] Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me.”[bw] 8 But he refused, saying[bx] to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought[by] to his household with me here,[bz] and everything that he owns he has put into my care.[ca] 9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do[cb] such a great evil and sin against God?” 10 Even though she continued to speak[cc] to Joseph day after day, he did not respond[cd] to her invitation to go to bed with her.[ce]
11 One day[cf] he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants[cg] were there in the house. 12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Come to bed[ch] with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran[ci] outside.[cj] 13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, 14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought[ck] in a Hebrew man[cl] to us to humiliate us.[cm] He tried to go to bed with me,[cn] but I screamed loudly.[co] 15 When he heard me raise[cp] my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”
16 So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. 17 This is what she said to him:[cq] “That Hebrew slave[cr] you brought to us tried to humiliate me,[cs] 18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”
19 When his master heard his wife say,[ct] “This is the way[cu] your slave treated me,”[cv] he became furious.[cw] 20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison,[cx] the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.[cy]
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness.[cz] He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden.[da] 22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing.[db] 23 The warden did not concern himself[dc] with anything that was in Joseph’s[dd] care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.
The Cupbearer and the Baker
40 After these things happened, the cupbearer[de] to the king of Egypt and the royal baker[df] offended[dg] their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials,[dh] the cupbearer and the baker, 3 so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be their attendant, and he served them.[di]
They spent some time in custody.[dj] 5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream[dk] the same night.[dl] Each man’s dream had its own meaning.[dm] 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were looking depressed.[dn] 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”[do] 8 They told him, “We both had dreams,[dp] but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them[dq] to me.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph:[dr] “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. 10 On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his[ds] cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”[dt]
12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent[du] three days. 13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you[dv] and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before[dw] when you were cupbearer. 14 But remember me[dx] when it goes well for you, and show[dy] me kindness.[dz] Make mention[ea] of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison,[eb] 15 for I really was kidnapped[ec] from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable,[ed] he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread[ee] on my head. 17 In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”
18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent[ef] three days. 19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you[eg] and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”
20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up”[eh] the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position[ei] so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, 22 but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had predicted.[ej] 23 But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph—he forgot him.[ek]
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