Juda na Tama
1 Kukashingikala kuti nge tjibaka itjetjo, Juda kasiya bakulu babe ne banung'una babe kayenda kanogala ne mmwe nlume we ku Adulamu wakabe edang'wa kuyi Hira. 2 Ikoko Juda kashangana ne nkololokadzi we mmwe nlume we Nkanana wakabe edang'wa kuyi Shua. Kanlobola kagala naye. 3 Nkadzi iwoyo kazwisenga katshibama mwana we tjilisana kantumila zina kati Eri. 4 Kazwisenga kakale katshibama mwana we tjilisana kantumila zina eti Onani. 5 Kazwala mmwe mwana we tjilisana kakale kantumila zina eti Shela. Iwoyu wakazwaligwa ku Khezibu.
6 Juda kalobodza nkololo uwe we mbano Eri nkadzi wakabe edang'wa kuyi Tama. 7 Koga Eri mbano ya Juda wakabe ali nthu mbiimbi mu mesho a Yahwe ndizo Yahwe bakambulaya. 8 Juda kadwa Onani kati, “Gala nkadzi we nkulu uwo thaka ndizo uwanile nkulu uwo bana, kuyendidzana nge tjilenje.” 9 Koga Onani kaziba kuti bana banowozwagwa abatowobe babe, ndizo katebulila mbewu pasi kuti asizwalile nkulu uwe bana. 10 Onani tjaakabe athama atjizoshathisa Yahwe ndizo na iye bakambulayabo. 11 Ipapo Juda kalebeleka na Tama nlongo uwe kati, “Yenda unogala kanyi kwenyu uli tjilikadzi kuswikila nkololo wangu Shela akula.” Juda wakaleba eijali ngoti wakabe etja kuti pamwe Shela na iye unodwa efabo se bakulu babe. Ndizo Tama kabgwilila kanyi kwabo.
12 Shule kwe tjibaka nkadzi wa Juda nkololokadzi wa Shua kafa. Kati anyaladzika kayenda ne nzwalani uwe Hira we Adulamu ku Timina ku balume bakabe bekera pkhwizi dzidze. 13 Kukati Tama abudziwa kuti tezwale babe ba mu zila banoyenda ku Timina kukera pkhwizi dzabo, 14 kaambula zwiambalo zwe butjilikadzi kazwikwididza nge lusiri ngono kagala pa nkoba we Enaimi upa zila inoyenda ku Timina. Wakabe abona kuti Shela wakula koga aazompiwa kun'gala thaka.
15 Juda kati embona kakumbula kuti i fukula ngoti wakabe akwididza buso gugwe. 16 Juda kasizibe kuti nlongo we mwana uwe ngono kabhuda mu zila kayenda kunli kandwa kati, “Ima ndilale nawe.”
Tama kabhuzwa kati, “Mowondipani kuti ndizo mulale nami?”
17 Juda kashandula eti, “Ndowokupa mbudzana kudwa mu pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzangu.”
Tama kabe eti, “Mundipeni tjandingasala ndakabhata kudzina mutumila mbudzana.”
18 Juda kabe ebhuzwa eti, “Ini tjandingakupa?”
Iye kadabila eti, “Ikoku kuna lutjwayo gwenyu ne nsungwana wago ne ludozo gwenyu gwamakabhata.” Ndizo kampa izo ngono kalala naye iye kazwisenga. 19 Tama kabgwilila kanyi, kaambula lusiri kaambala zwiambalo zwizwe zwe butjilikadzi.
20 Juda katuma nzwalani uwe we Adulamu kunoyisa mbudzana ku nkadzi iwoyu ne kubuya ne zwaakasiya kunli, koga kasitongombona. 21 Hira kabhuzwa balume bakabe begala ikoko kati, “Fukula iyeyi yakabe ili gele pa zila ku Enaimi ingayi?”
Bakadabila beti, “Akuzotongo be ne fukula ipapa.”
22 Ngono kabgwilila kuna Juda kandwa kati, “Andizonwana. Naikobo balume banogala ikweno bakati akuzotongobe ne fukula ikweno.”
23 Ipapo Juda kati, “Ngaagale nazo ngoti tingadwa tisekiwa nge bathu. Iko ndakutuma kuyisa mbudzana koga wansheta.”
24 Kukati shule kwe mwedzi mitatu Juda kabudziwa kuyi, “Nlongo wenyu Tama wakathama bufukula una ntumbu.”
Juda kabe eti, “Munduse apisiwe afe.”
25 Kati ipapo edusiwa kayisa ndayidzo kuna tezwale babe eti, “Ndakazwisengeswa nge mweni we zwithu izwezwi. Bonani kene mungaziba kuti ikoku kuthu kwe lutjwayo ne nsungwana wako ne ludozo igogu ngezwaani?”
26 Juda kazwiziba ngono kati, “Tama wakalulwama kundipinda, ngoti andizompa nkololo wangu Shela kunlobola.” Ngono Juda kasitongolala naye kakale.
27 Kukati tjibaka tje kutshibama kukwe tjiswika kukawanika kuna mabili mu nli. 28 Kati etshibama, mmwe we bana kadusa luboko gugwe, ntshibamisi bakasungilila thali shaba mu luboko bebe beti, “Iwoyu wazwagwa kutanga.” 29 Koga kakwebela luboko gugwe mukati nkwinya uwe kabe ezwagwa ngono ntshibamisi kabe eti, “Ndiko sekwa wazwibezhegwa zila.” Ndizo katumigwa zina kuyi Perezi. 30 Nkwinya uwe wakabe ana thali shaba mu luboko gugwe kazwagwa katumigwa zina kuyi Zera.
Judah and Tamar
1 About that time Judah left his brothers in the hill country and went to live near his friend Hirah in the town of Adullam. 2 While there he met the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man. Judah married her, 3 and they had three sons. He named the first one Er; 4 she named the next one Onan. 5 The third one was born when Judah was in Chezib, and she named him Shelah.
6 Later, Judah chose Tamar as a wife for Er, his oldest son. 7 But Er was very evil, and the Lord took his life. 8 So Judah told Onan, “It's your duty to marry Tamar and have a child for your brother.”
9 Onan knew the child would not be his, and when he had sex with Tamar, he made sure that she would not get pregnant. 10 The Lord wasn't pleased with Onan and took his life too.
11 Judah did not want the same thing to happen to his son Shelah, and he told Tamar, “Go home to your father and live there as a widow until my son Shelah is grown.” So Tamar went to live with her father.
12 Some years later Judah's wife died, and he mourned for her. He then went with his friend Hirah to the town of Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Tamar found out that her father-in-law Judah was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 She also realized that Shelah was now a grown man, but she had not been allowed to marry him. So she decided to dress in something other than her widow's clothes and to cover her face with a veil. After this, she sat outside the town of Enaim on the road to Timnah.
15 When Judah came along, he did not recognize her because of the veil. He thought she was a prostitute 16 and asked her to sleep with him. She asked, “What will you give me if I do?”
17 “One of my young goats,” he answered.
“What will you give me to keep until you send the goat?” she asked.
18 “What do you want?” he asked in return.
“The ring on that cord around your neck,” was her reply. “I also want the special walking stick you have with you.” He gave them to her, they slept together, and she became pregnant.
19 After returning home, Tamar took off the veil and dressed in her widow's clothes again.
20 Judah asked his friend Hirah take a goat to the woman, so he could get back the ring and walking stick, but she wasn't there. 21 Hirah asked the people of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who sat along the road outside your town?”
“There's never been one here,” they answered.
22 Hirah went back and told Judah, “I couldn't find the woman, and the people of Enaim said no prostitute had ever been there.”
23 “If you couldn't find her, we'll just let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah answered. “And we'd better forget about the goat, or else we'll look like fools.”
24 About three months later someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has behaved like a prostitute, and now she's pregnant!”
“Drag her out of town and burn her to death!” Judah shouted.
25 As Tamar was being dragged off, she sent someone to tell her father-in-law, “The man who gave me this ring, this cord, and this walking stick is the one who got me pregnant.”
26 “Those are mine!” Judah admitted. “She's a better person than I am, because I broke my promise to let her marry my son Shelah.” After this, Judah never slept with her again.
27-28 Tamar later gave birth to twins. But before either of them was born, one of them stuck a hand out of her womb. The woman who was helping tied a red thread around the baby's hand and explained, “This one came out first.”
29 At once his hand went back in, and the other child was born first. The woman then said, “What an opening you've made for yourself!” So they named the baby Perez. 30 When the brother with the red thread was born, they named him Zerah.