3. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Er.
4. She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Onan.
5. Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Shelah. He was born at Kezib.
6. Judah chose a wife for his firstborn son Er. Her name was Tamar.
7. Er angered the Lord. So the Lord took away his life.
8. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go sleep with your brother’s widow. Do your duty for her as a brother-in-law, and produce a descendant for your brother.”
9. But Onan knew that the descendant wouldn’t belong to him, so whenever he slept with his brother’s widow, he wasted his semen on the ground to avoid giving his brother a descendant.
10. What Onan did angered the Lord so much that the Lord took away Onan’s life too.
11. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father’s home. Live as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He thought that this son, too, might die like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s home.
12. After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah from Adullam went to Timnah where the men were shearing Judah’s sheep.