Genesis 38:1-9 ▼

1 About that time Judah went down, away from his brothers, and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite named Hirah.

2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he married her, and had intercourse with her.

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 when she bore him.

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.

8 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.”

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.