Genesis 38:13-30

Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep. So she took off the clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a veil to hide who she was. Then she sat down by the gate of Enaim on the road to Timnah. She did this because Judah’s younger son Shelah had grown up, but Judah had not made plans for her to marry him. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face with a veil. So Judah went to her and said, “Let me have sexual relations with you.” He did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law. She asked, “What will you give me if I let you have sexual relations with me?” Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.” She answered, “First give me something to keep as a deposit until you send the goat.” Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as a deposit?” Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its cord, and give me your walking stick.” So Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and Tamar became pregnant. When Tamar went home, she took off the veil that covered her face and put on the clothes that showed she was a widow. Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat to find the woman and get back his seal and the walking stick he had given her, but Hirah could not find her. He asked some of the people at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?” They answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.” So he went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman, and the people who lived there said, ‘There has never been a prostitute here.’ ” Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I sent her the goat as I promised, but you could not find her.” About three months later someone told Judah, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, is guilty of acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned to death.” When the people went to bring Tamar out, she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, “The man who owns these things has made me pregnant. Look at this seal and its cord and this walking stick, and tell me whose they are.” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I. She did this because I did not give her to my son Shelah as I promised.” And Judah did not have sexual relations with her again. When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her body. While she was giving birth, one baby put his hand out. The nurse tied a red string on his hand and said, “This baby came out first.” But he pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. The nurse said, “So you are able to break out first,” and they named him Perez. After this, the baby with the red string on his hand was born, and they named him Zerah.