Genesis 38; Genesis 39; Genesis 40

Genesis 38

1 At that time, Judah moved away from his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah.

2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her. After he slept with her,

3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom she named Er.

4 She became pregnant again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan.

5 Then she gave birth to one more son and named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she gave birth to him.

6 Judah married his oldest son Er to a woman named Tamar.

7 But the LORD considered Judah's oldest son Er immoral, and the LORD put him to death.

8 Judah said to Onan, "Go to your brother's wife, do your duty as her brother-in-law, and provide children for your brother."

9 Onan knew the children wouldn't be his so when he slept with his brother's wife, he wasted his semen on the ground, so he wouldn't give his brother children.

10 The LORD considered what he did as wrong and put him to death too.

11 Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Stay as a widow in your father's household until my son Shelah grows up." He thought Shelah would die like his brothers had. So Tamar went and lived in her father's household.

12 After a long time, Judah's wife the daughter of Shua died. Then, after a period of mourning, he and his neighbor Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah, to those who were shearing his sheep.

13 Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is now on his way up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

14 So Tamar took off the clothing she wore as a widow, covered herself with a veil, put on makeup, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim on the road to Timnah, since she realized that although Shelah had already grown up, she hadn't been given to him as a wife.

15 Judah saw her and thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

16 He turned to her beside the road and said, "Let me sleep with you," because he didn't know she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me for sleeping with you?"

17 He said, "I will give you a kid goat from my flock." She said, "Only if you give me some deposit, as security to guarantee that you will send it."

18 He said, "What kind of deposit should I give you?" And she said, "Your seal, its cord, and the staff in your hand." He gave these to her, slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

19 Then she got up, left, and took off her veil, dressing once again in the clothing she wore as a widow.

20 Judah sent the kid goat with his neighbor the Adullamite so he could take back the deposits from the woman, but he couldn't find her.

21 He asked the locals of that place, "Where's the consecrated worker who was at Enaim on the road?" But they said, "There's no consecrated worker here."

22 So he went back to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The locals even said, ‘There's no holy woman here.'"

23 Judah said, "Let her keep everything so we aren't laughed at. I did send this kid goat, but you couldn't find her."

24 About three months later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has become a prostitute and is now pregnant because of it." And Judah said, "Bring her out so that she may be burned."

25 When she was brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, "I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things. See if you recognize whose seal, cord, and staff these are."

26 Judah recognized them and said, "She's more righteous than I am, because I didn't allow her to marry my son Shelah." Judah never knew her intimately again.

27 When she gave birth, she discovered she had twins in her womb.

28 At birth, one boy put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a red thread on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."

29 As soon as he pulled his hand back, his brother came out, and she said, "You've burst out on your own." So he was named Perez.

30 Afterward, his brother with the red thread on his hand came out, and he was named Zerah.

Genesis 39

1 When Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, Potiphar, Pharaoh's chief officer, the commander of the royal guard and an Egyptian, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man and served in his Egyptian master's household.

3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made everything he did successful.

4 Potiphar thought highly of Joseph, and Joseph became his assistant; he appointed Joseph head of his household and put everything he had under Joseph's supervision.

5 From the time he appointed Joseph head of his household and of everything he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's household because of Joseph. The LORD blessed everything he had, both in the household and in the field.

6 So he handed over everything he had to Joseph and didn't pay attention to anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.

7 Some time later, his master's wife became attracted to Joseph and said, "Sleep with me."

8 He refused and said to his master's wife, "With me here, my master doesn't pay attention to anything in his household; he's put everything he has under my supervision.

9 No one is greater than I am in this household, and he hasn't denied me anything except you, since you are his wife. How could I do this terrible thing and sin against God?"

10 Every single day she tried to convince him, but he wouldn't agree to sleep with her or even to be with her.

11 One day when Joseph arrived at the house to do his work, none of the household's men were there.

12 She grabbed his garment, saying, "Lie down with me." But he left his garment in her hands and ran outside.

13 When she realized that he had left his garment in her hands and run outside,

14 she summoned the men of her house and said to them, "Look, my husband brought us a Hebrew to ridicule us. He came to me to lie down with me, but I screamed.

15 When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment with me and ran outside."

16 She kept his garment with her until Joseph's master came home,

17 and she told him the same thing: "The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us, to ridicule me, came to me;

18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment with me and ran outside."

19 When Joseph's master heard the thing that his wife told him, "This is what your servant did to me," he was incensed.

20 Joseph's master took him and threw him in jail, the place where the king's prisoners were held. While he was in jail,

21 the LORD was with Joseph and remained loyal to him. He caused the jail's commander to think highly of Joseph.

22 The jail's commander put all of the prisoners in the jail under Joseph's supervision, and he was the one who determined everything that happened there.

23 The jail's commander paid no attention to anything under Joseph's supervision, because the LORD was with him and made everything he did successful.

Genesis 40

1 Some time later, both the wine steward and the baker for Egypt's king offended their master, the king of Egypt.

2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief wine steward and the chief baker,

3 and he put them under arrest with the commander of the royal guard in the same jail where Joseph was imprisoned.

4 The commander of the royal guard assigned Joseph to assist them. After they had been under arrest for some time,

5 both of them—the wine steward and the baker for Egypt's king who were imprisoned in the jail—had dreams one night, and each man's dream had its own meaning.

6 When Joseph met them in the morning, he saw that they were upset.

7 He asked the officers of Pharaoh who were under arrest with him in his master's house, "Why do you look so distressed today?"

8 They answered, "We've both had dreams, but there's no one to interpret them." Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Describe your dreams to me."

9 The chief wine steward described his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine right in front of me,

10 and on the vine were three branches. When it budded, its blossoms appeared, and its clusters ripened into grapes.

11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

12 Joseph said to him, "This is the dream's interpretation: The three branches are three days.

13 After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and return you to your position. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just the way things were before when you were his wine steward.

14 But please, remember me when you are doing well and be loyal to me. Put in a good word for me to Pharaoh, so he sets me free from this prison.

15 I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I've done nothing to be thrown into this dungeon."

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, "It was the same for me. In my dream, there were three baskets of white bread on my head.

17 In the basket on top there were baked goods for Pharaoh's food, but birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."

18 Joseph responded, "This is the dream's interpretation: The three baskets are three days.

19 After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and will hang you from a tree where birds will peck your flesh from you."

20 The third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a party for all of his servants. Before all of his servants, he gave an audience to the chief wine steward and the chief baker.

21 He returned the chief wine steward to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.

22 But the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had said would happen when he interpreted their dreams for them.

23 But the chief wine steward didn't remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.