9. Onan knew that the children from this union would not belong to him. He had sexual relations with Tamar, but he did not allow himself to stay inside her.
10. This made the Lord angry. So he killed Onan also.
11. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go back to your father’s house. Stay there and don’t marry until my young son Shelah grows up.” Judah was afraid that Shelah would also be killed like his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father’s home.
12. Later, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah’s time of sadness, he went to Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam. Judah went to Timnah to have the wool cut from his sheep.
13. Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.
14. Tamar always wore clothes that showed that she was a widow. So she put on some different clothes and covered her face with a veil. Then she sat down near the road going to Enaim, a town near Timnah. Tamar knew that Judah’s younger son Shelah was now grown up, but Judah would not make plans for her to marry him.
15. Judah traveled on that road and saw her, but he thought that she was a prostitute. (Her face was covered with a veil like a prostitute.)
16. So he went to her and said, “Let me have sex with you.” (Judah did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.) She said, “How much will you give me?”
17. Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.” She answered, “I agree to that. But first you must give me something to keep until you send me the goat.”
18. Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as proof that I will send you the goat?” Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its string and your walking stick.” Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and she became pregnant.
19. Then Tamar went home, took off her veil that covered her face, and again put on the special clothes that showed she was a widow.
20. Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her.
21. He asked some of the men at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?” The men answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.”
22. So Judah’s friend went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman. The men who live in that place said that there was never a prostitute there.”
23. So Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I tried to give her the goat, but we could not find her. That is enough.”
24. About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar sinned like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” Then Judah said, “Take her out and burn her.”