1 På den tiden dro Juda bort fra brødrene sine og ble venn med en mann fra Adullam ved navn Hira.

Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah.

2 Der så han datteren til en mann fra Kanaan som het Shua, og han tok henne til kone.

And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife.

3 Hun fødte en sønn, og han ga ham navnet Er.

And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er.

4 Hun fødte igjen en sønn, og han kalte ham Onan.

And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan.

5 Så fikk hun enda en sønn, som hun ga navnet Sela; hun var i Kesib da han ble født.

Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.

6 Juda tok en kone til sin førstefødte sønn Er, og hun het Tamar.

And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar.

7 Men Er, Judas førstefødte, gjorde det som var ondt i Herrens øyne, så Gud tok livet av ham.

Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death.

8 Da sa Juda til Onan: Gå inn til din brors kone og gjør din plikt som svoger; gjør henne til din kone og skaff din bror avkom.

Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your wife and get offspring for your brother.

9 Men Onan visste at avkommet ikke ville bli hans eget, så da han gikk inn til sin brors kone, lot han sæden falle på jorden, for å ikke gi sin bror avkom.

But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother.

10 Det han gjorde var ondt i Herrens øyne, så også han ble tatt av dage.

And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death, like his brother.

11 Så sa Juda til Tamar, sin svigerdatter: Gå tilbake til din fars hus og hold deg som enke til min sønn Sela blir voksen. Han fryktet at også Sela skulle dø, slik som brødrene hans. Og Tamar dro tilbake til sin fars hus.

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's house.

12 Da litt tid var gått, døde Judas kone, Bat-Shua. Da Juda hadde sørget ferdig, dro han til Timna til fåreklipperne sammen med vennen Hira fra Adullam.

And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him.

13 Tamar fikk vite at svigerfaren hennes skulle til Timna for å klippe sauene sine.

And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting,

14 Hun tok av seg enkeplaggene sine, dekket seg til med et slør og satte seg ved inngangen til Enajim ved veien til Timna. Hun så nemlig at Sela var blitt voksen, men hun var ikke blitt gitt til ham som kone.

She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife.

15 Da Juda så henne, trodde han at hun var en skjøge, for hun hadde dekket til ansiktet sitt.

When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered.

16 Han gikk bort til henne ved veien og sa: «La meg få ligge med deg!» For han visste ikke at hun var hans svigerdatter. Hun sa: «Hva vil du gi meg for det?»

And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price?

17 Han svarte: «Jeg vil sende deg en ung geit fra flokken.» Hun sa: «Hva gir du meg i pant til du sender den?»

And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it?

18 Han spurte: «Hva vil du ha?» Hun svarte: «Seglet ditt med snoren og staven du har i hånden.» Han ga dem til henne og lå med henne, og hun ble gravid med ham.

And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him.

19 Hun reiste seg og dro bort, tok av seg sløret og tok på seg enkeplaggene igjen.

Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing.

20 Juda sendte vennen Hira med den unge geiten for å få tilbake pantet fra kvinnen, men hun var ikke der.

Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there.

21 Han spurte mennene på stedet: «Hvor er skjøgen som satt ved veien i Enajim?» De svarte: «Det har ikke vært noen skjøge her.»

And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there.

22 Hira vendte tilbake til Juda og sa: «Jeg fant henne ikke, og mennene på stedet sier at det ikke har vært noen skjøge der.»

So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there.

23 Juda sa: «La henne beholde det hun har, så vi ikke blir til spott. Jeg har sendt geiten, men du fant ikke kvinnen.»

And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.

24 Omtrent tre måneder senere fikk Juda beskjed om at Tamar, svigerdatteren hans, hadde drevet hor og var gravid. Da sa Juda: «Før henne ut og la henne brennes!»

Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.

25 Da hun ble ført ut, sendte hun bud til svigerfaren og sa: «Det er mannen som eier disse, som har gjort meg gravid. Se, hvem sitt segl, snor og stav er dette?»

And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are, is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and this cord and this stick?

26 Juda gjenkjente dem og sa: «Hun har vært mer rettskaffen enn jeg, for jeg ga henne ikke til min sønn Sela.» Og han lå aldri med henne mer.

Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he had no more connection with her.

27 Da tiden kom for henne å føde, var det tvillinger i magen.

And when the time came for her to give birth, it was clear that there were two children in her body.

28 Under fødselen rakte en av dem ut hånden, og jordmoren bandt en rød tråd om hånden hans og sa: «Denne kom først ut.»

And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.

29 Men da han trakk hånden tilbake, kom broren ut først. Da sa jordmoren: «For en åpning du har laget!» Så han ble kalt Perez.

But then he took his hand back again, and his brother came first to birth: and the woman said, What an opening you have made for yourself! So he was named Perez.

30 Deretter kom broren ut, og han hadde den røde tråden om hånden. Han ble kalt Zera.

And then his brother came out, with the red thread round his hand, and he was named Zerah.