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 and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her, 3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er. 4 She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan. 5 Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born.
6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants.” 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father's house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home.
12 After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered. 16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “All right, how much do you charge?” (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.)
She said, “What will you give me?”
17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”
She said, “All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat.”
18 “What shall I give you as a pledge?” he asked.
She answered, “Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant. 19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on.
20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some men at Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?”
“There has never been a prostitute here,” they answered.
22 He returned to Judah and said, “I couldn't find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there.”
23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things. We don't want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn't find her.”
24 About three months later someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant.”
Judah ordered, “Take her out and burn her to death.”
25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are—this seal with its cord and this walking stick.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her—I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage.” And Judah never had intercourse with her again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins. 28 While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, “This one was born first.” 29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, “So this is how you break your way out!” So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.