Chronological
Chapter 38
The Sons of Judah.[a] 1 At that time Judah set out from his brothers and made camp with a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. 2 Here Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her. 3 She conceived and bore a son and named him Er. 4 She conceived another time and bore a son and named him Onan. 5 She bore still another son and named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she gave birth to him.
6 Judah took a wife for his firstborn son Er, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, the firstborn of Judah, did things that were wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord caused him to die.
8 Judah then said to Onan, “Marry the wife of your brother to fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her and to assure descendants for your brother.”[b] 9 But Onan knew that the child would not have been considered to be his own. Every time that he slept with the wife of his brother, he spilled his seed on the ground so that he would not have to give his brother a son.[c] 10 This greatly displeased the Lord, and the Lord caused him to die, too.
11 Thereupon Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to the house of your father as a widow until my son Shelah will have grown up.” For he thought, “Let him not die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and returned to the house of her father.
12 Quite some time later the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah had finished his time of mourning, he went to Timnah to the sheep shearers. Hirah, the Adullamite, went with him.
13 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law has gone to Timnah, to the sheep shearers of his flock.” 14 Tamar took off her clothes of mourning, put on a veil, and completely covered herself. Then she went and sat at the gate to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She realized that Shelah had already grown up, but she had not yet been given to him in marriage.[d]
15 [e]Judah saw her and thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He headed over to her and said, “Let me sleep with you.” He did not know that this was his daughter-in-law.
She said, “What will you give me to sleep with me?”
17 He said, “I will send a goat from the flock.”
She said, “Will you give me a pledge to hold until you will have sent it?”
18 “What pledge shall I give you?” he asked.
“Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.”
He gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived. 19 Then she got up and left. She took off her veil and put her clothes of mourning back on.
20 Judah sent his friend the Adullamite with the goat to claim the pledge from the woman, but he could not find her. 21 He asked the men of that place, “Where is the temple prostitute who was in Enaim alongside the road?”
They answered, “There has never been a temple prostitute there.”
22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her. Even the men of that place said, ‘There has never been a temple prostitute there.’ ”
23 Judah said, “Let her keep them. Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I sent her the goat, but you could not find her.”
24 About three months later, Judah was brought the following news: “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, played the harlot and she is also pregnant from her harlotry.” Judah said, “Let her be brought out and burned!”
25 She had already been brought out when she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man to whom these objects belong is the father of the child.” She continued, “Do you know to whom this signet ring, cord, and staff belong?”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is innocent and I am guilty, for I did not give her my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When her time to give birth arrived, it was discovered that she had twins in her womb. 28 While she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it to the hand saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But, when he pulled his hand back, his brother came out. She said, “What a breach you have opened for yourself!” He was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied around his hand, came out. He was named Zerah.
Chapter 39
Joseph, Blessed of God.[f] 1 When Joseph was brought down into Egypt, Potiphar, a counselor of Pharaoh and the commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. He remained in the house of the Egyptian, his master. 3 His master realized that the Lord was with him and that whatever he undertook prospered. 4 Thus Joseph found favor with him and became his personal attendant. Potiphar even placed him in charge of his household and he entrusted him with all his possessions. 5 From the moment that he was made overseer and entrusted with his possessions, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that Potiphar had, whether in the house or out in the fields. 6 He entrusted Joseph with all that he had, and he did not concern himself with anything other than the food he ate.
The Righteous One Calumniated.[g] Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7 After some time, the wife of his master set her eyes upon Joseph and said to him, “Sleep with me!”
8 But he refused and said to the wife of his master, “Look, my lord does not worry about anything in his house and he has entrusted me with all his possessions. 9 He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has not kept anything from me but you, for you are his wife. How could I ever do this evil thing and sin against God?” 10 Although she spoke every day to Joseph, he would not agree to sleep with her or even to be near her.
11 One day he entered the house to do his work, but none of the servants was around. 12 She took hold of his tunic saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his tunic in her hands and ran out of the house.
13 Seeing that he had left his tunic in her hands and that he had fled outside, 14 she called out to the servants and told them, “Look, this Hebrew has been brought into the house to mock us! He came in to lie with me, but I screamed out loud. 15 As soon as he heard me raise my voice and call out, he left his tunic with me and ran out of the house.”
16 She left the tunic lying next to her until her master came home. 17 Then she told him these same things: “That Hebrew servant, whom you brought to our house, seized me to insult me. 18 But as soon as I cried out and shouted, he left his tunic next to me and ran out of the house.”
19 When the master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your servant has done to me,” he became very angry. 20 He seized Joseph and put him into the prison where they held royal prisoners.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed him kindness and caused him to find favor with the chief jailer. 22 The chief jailer entrusted all the prisoners to Joseph. Whatever had to be done there, he did it. 23 The chief jailer did not have to worry about any of those things that were entrusted to Joseph, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did prosper.
Chapter 40
A Prophet in Suffering.[h] 1 Some time later, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two eunuchs, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in prison in the care of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was being held. 4 The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to their service. They thus remained in prison for a while.
5 Now, the same night, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were in prison, both had a dream, each one having his own dream that had its own meaning.
6 The next morning Joseph came to them and saw that they were troubled. 7 He asked the eunuchs of Pharaoh who were with him in prison, in the house of his master, “Why are you so sad today?”
8 They said, “We had a dream, but no one can interpret it.”
Joseph said to them, “Does not God have the power of interpreting? Tell your dreams to me.”
9 The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said, “In my dream I was standing in front of a vine 10 on which there were three branches. As soon as it sprouted, the flowers bloomed, and it brought forth clusters of grapes. 11 I was holding Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. I took the grapes and squeezed their juice into Pharaoh’s cup. I then gave Pharaoh the cup.”
12 Joseph told him, “Here is the interpretation. The three branches are three days. 13 In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you will give Pharaoh his cup just as you once did when you were his cupbearer. 14 When you are happy again, please remember that I was with you. Do me this favor: speak of me to Pharaoh and get me out of here. 15 I was unjustly carried away from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which I should have been placed in this dungeon.”
16 The chief baker, seeing that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, said to him, “As for me, in my dream I was standing with three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 In the baskets on my head were all different kinds of food for Pharaoh that would be prepared by a baker. But birds ate the food from the baskets that I had on my head.”
18 Joseph answered and said, “Here is the interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head and have you impaled; and the birds will eat away your flesh.”
20 Three days later, it was the birthday of Pharaoh, and there was a banquet for all his ministers. He lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and lifted off the head of the chief baker before all his ministers. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office as cupbearer, so that he would hand the cup to Pharaoh. 22 He had the chief baker impaled, just as Joseph had said in his interpretation.
23 But the cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
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