Friday in Season after Pentecost

9Verse 9. The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, 10Verse 10. “Take an offering from the exiles — from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon — and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11Verse 11. Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 12Verse 12. And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. 13Verse 13. Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’ 14Verse 14. The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the gracious son of Zephaniah. 15Verse 15. Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”

1Verse 1. About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. 2Verse 2. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her. 3Verse 3. So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er. 4Verse 4. Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. 5Verse 5. Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him. 6Verse 6. Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7Verse 7. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death. 8Verse 8. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9Verse 9. But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. 10Verse 10. What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well. 11Verse 11. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house. 12Verse 12. After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. 13Verse 13. When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14Verse 14. she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. 15Verse 15. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. 16Verse 16. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired. 17Verse 17. “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.” 18Verse 18. “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19Verse 19. Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again. 20Verse 20. Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. 21Verse 21. He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered. 22Verse 22. So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’” 23Verse 23. “Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.” 24Verse 24. About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!” 25Verse 25. As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?” 26Verse 26. Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.