³ She conceived and bore a son, whom she named Er. ⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, whom she named Onan. ⁵ Then she bore still another son, whom she named Shelah. She was in Chezib^[a] when she bore him.^(A)

⁶ Judah got a wife named Tamar for his firstborn, Er. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, greatly offended the Lord; so the Lord took his life.^{(B) 8 (C)}Then Judah said to Onan, “Have intercourse with your brother’s wife, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother’s line.”^{[b] 9} Onan, however, knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid giving offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ What he did greatly offended the Lord, and the Lord took his life too.

^29 (A)But as he withdrew his hand, his brother came out; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was called Perez.^{[a] 30} Afterward his brother, who had the crimson thread on his hand, came out; he was called Zerah.^[b](B)

¹⁹ The sons of Judah were Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.^(A)

¹² With the offspring the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”^[a]