Genesis 38

⁸One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

¹So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror against you, O dweller of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.

²and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

³But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

³The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death.

³and I will have you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

¹One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.

⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

²When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

²⁶Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

²¹The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah and the clans of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea,

²¹And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

³and I will have you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.

³The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the Lord.

¹³because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”

²³But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

⁵When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.

⁶The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.

²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”

⁶The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

¹¹But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?

¹⁶You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother.

⁸Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.”

⁵Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

⁶The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

²For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

⁴Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

¹Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the Lord, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

³²The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

⁷This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

¹³Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, delivered the message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.

¹³But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

¹¹But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?

¹²Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,

¹⁰The border curled westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), went down to Beth-shemesh, and crossed to Timnah.

³⁹And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.

¹One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.

⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

¹⁹Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

⁵So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

²⁶Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

¹¹Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

¹²Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.

²“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

⁶⁵and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

¹¹And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!”

³³Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

¹⁸You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.

²⁰Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.

³³Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

⁸The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

¹⁶Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.

²⁴About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”

²⁵As she was being brought out, Tamar 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?”

²⁵As she was being brought out, Tamar 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?”

²⁶Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

²²But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

²⁴“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.

¹¹to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding.

¹⁴she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.

²So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

⁵“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

³Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies.

¹⁷You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

²⁰and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

⁹Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.

³³Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.

²¹What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.

²Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹⁵“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

⁹If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

²But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. After she had been there four months,

⁴⁴And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women.

⁵For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

¹⁹Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt

⁵Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors

³²They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

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.

²¹You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹⁷and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.

²Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

⁹When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

¹⁷When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.

⁴Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

²⁰These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

⁶The descendants of Perez who settled in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of valor.

¹²And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

⁶From the Zerahites: Jeuel and 690 relatives.

⁴Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.