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his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

      ¹⁸ And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

      ¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

      ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

      ²¹ And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.

      ²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

      ²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;

      ²⁴ and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

      ²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

      ²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?

      ²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him.

      ²⁸ And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

      ²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

      ³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

      ³¹ And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;

      ³² and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it is thy son's coat or not.

      ³³ And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat: an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.

      ³⁴ And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

      ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.

      ³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

      Chapter 38

       Table of Contents

      ¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

      ² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. And he took her, and went in unto her.

      ³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

      ⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

      ⁵ And she yet again bare a son, and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

      ⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.

      ⁷ And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah slew him.

      ⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

      ⁹ And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.

      ¹⁰ And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and he slew him also.

      ¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

      ¹² And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

      ¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.

      ¹⁴ And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife.

      ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face.

      ¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee: for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

      ¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

      ¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

      ¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

      ²⁰ And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

      ²¹ Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here.

      ²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There hath been no prostitute here.

      ²³ And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be put to shame: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

      ²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

      ²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff.

      ²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

      ²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

      ²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

      ²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself? Therefore his name was called Perez.

      ³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zerah.