Old Testament

New Testament

Genesis 38:2-11 New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)

2. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he married her, and had intercourse with her.

3. She conceived and bore a son, whom she named Er.

4. Again she conceived and bore a son, whom she named Onan.

5. Then she bore still another son, whom she named Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.

6. Judah got a wife named Tamar for his firstborn, Er.

7. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, greatly offended the Lord; so the Lord took his life.

8. Then Judah said to Onan, “Have intercourse with your brother’s wife, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother’s line.”

9. Onan, however, knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid giving offspring to his brother.

10. What he did greatly offended the Lord, and the Lord took his life too.

11. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he feared that Shelah also might die like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

Read complete chapter Genesis 38