Genesis 38
Open in the reader1About that time, Praised left his brothers and settled near a man named Noble, an Of-Retreat.
2There Praised saw the daughter of a Humbled-One man named Rich, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
3So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Praised named him Watchful.
4Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Vigorous.
5Then she gave birth to another son and named him Asked-For; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
6Now Praised acquired a wife for Watchful, his firstborn, and her name was Palm-Tree.
7But Watchful, Praised’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of He-Who-Is; so He-Who-Is put him to death.
8Then Praised said to Vigorous, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
9But Vigorous knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.
10What he did was wicked in the sight of He-Who-Is, so He put Vigorous to death as well.
11Then Praised said to his daughter-in-law Palm-Tree, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Asked-For grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Palm-Tree went to live in her father’s house.
12After a long time Praised’s wife, the daughter of Rich, died. When Praised had finished mourning, he and his friend Noble the Of-Retreat went up to his sheepshearers at Allotted-Portion.
13When Palm-Tree was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Allotted-Portion to shear his sheep,”
14she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Two-Springs, which is on the way to Allotted-Portion. For she saw that although Asked-For had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
15When Praised saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.
16Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.
17“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Praised answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”
18“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
19Then Palm-Tree got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
20Now when Praised sent his friend Noble the Of-Retreat with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
21He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Two-Springs?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered.
22So Noble returned to Praised and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”
23“Let her keep the items,” Praised replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”
24About three months later, Praised was told, “Your daughter-in-law Palm-Tree has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Praised replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
25As she was being brought out, Palm-Tree sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
26Praised recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Asked-For.” And he did not have relations with her again.
27When the time came for Palm-Tree to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.
29But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Breach.
30Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Dawning.