Juda na Tamar
1 Nu moruveze ndo Juda wa isa omarumbi novangu ve na katura puna Hira, omurumendu ngwa zire kotjihuro tjena Adulam. 2 Ingo Juda oka kamuna omusuko womurumendu Omukanaan wena Sua. Eye arire tje mu kupu. Nu tja rara pu ye, 3 wa rira otjingundi, a panduka omuzandu, ne mu ruku Er. 4 Neye wa rira otjingundi rukwao, a panduka omuzandu, ne mu ruku Onan. 5 Norukwao wa panduka omuzandu, ne mu ruku Sela; nu Juda wa ri mOkesib, omuzandu ngwi tja pandukwa.
6 Juda arire tja pahere omuzandu we everi Er omukazendu; nena re ra ri Tamar. 7 Nungwari Muhona ka ri nohange nourunde wa Er, everi ra Juda. Muhona ope mu zepera. 8 Nu Juda arire tja tja ku Onan: “Karare pomuhepundu werumbi roye, yenenisa otjingura tjoye otja omuangu womurumendu we kutja erumbi roye a kare nozondekurona.” 9 Nungwari Onan wa tjiwa kutja ovanatje kamaave rire ove, opuya zu okutjita kutja otjikando atjihe tja karara pomuhepundu werumbi re, a nyonene orukwato pehi kutja ape ha kara ozondekurona zerumbi re. 10 Nu ihi tja tjita, Muhona we tji nyengwa, neye arire tje mu zepa rukwao. 11 Juda arire tja tja komukwe we omusuko Tamar: “Yaruka konganda yaiho otja omuhepundu nga omuzandu wandje Sela tje kuru.” Eye wa tjita nai, tjinga a tira kutja omuzandu we Sela ngaa ṱu rukwao tjimuna omarumbi we. Tamar arire tja yaruka konganda ya ihe.
12 Kombunda yoruveze rworive omukazendu wa Juda, ingwi omusuko wa Sua, wa koka. Nu Juda tja mana oruveze rwomutambo, eye nepanga re Hira wa Adulam va ya kOtimna, kovahore vozonḓu ze. 13 Novandu arire tji va raere ku Tamar nave tja: “Tara, iho omukwe woye ma kapita kOtimna okukahora ozonḓu ze.” 14 Neye arire tja hukura ozombanda ze zouhepundu ne rikutjire newiwiri, na kahaama pomuvero wa Enaim, otjihuro tji tja ri mondjira yokuyenda kOtimna. Eye wa tjiwa kutja Sela nai we kura; nungwari eye ngunda keya yandjewa ku ye morukupo.
15 Nu Juda tja muna Tamar, arire tje ripura kutja ngahino omukazendu omukorondu, eye tjinga e rikutjire omurungu we. 16 Neye arire tja kondo ku ye meṋe yondjira na tja: “Arikana, indjo mbi rare pove.” Orondu tjinga e ha tjivirwe kutja ingwi eye omusuko omukwe we.
Nomukazendu wa tja ku ye: “Mo ndji pe tjike tji wa rara pu ami?”
17 Nu Juda a tja: “Ami me kekuhindira ongombona morupanda rwandje.”
Nomukazendu arire tja tja: “Osemba, nu ngunda amo ndji pe otjiṋa tjomoruveze, nga tji we kendjihindira indji ongombona.”
18 Neye a pura nai: “Hi ku pe tjike tjomoruveze?”
Neye wa zira a tja: “Ndji pa okaṋa kena roye ku keri mosengo yoye, nokati okahoneno ku u na ko meke.” Neye we mu pa, ave rara pamwe, na rire otjingundi. 19 Nu Tamar wa sekama na i, neye wa isa ko ewiwiri na zara ozombanda ze zouhepundu rukwao.
20 Juda arire tja hindi ongombona puna epanga re, ingwi Omuadulam, kutja a kakotore ihi otjiyandjewa tji tja yandjwa moruveze komukazendu. Nungwari eye ke kemumunine. 21 Neye wa pura kovandu votjirongo ho na tja: “Ingwi omukorondu ngwa ri pomuvero wa Enaim, u ri pi?”
Nowo ve mu zira ave tja: “Kape naa pa ri omukorondu mba.”
22 Neye wa yaruka ku Juda na tja: “Ami hi kemumwine. Nu wina ovandu votjirongo ho mave tja: ‘Kape naa pa ri omukorondu mbo.’ ”
23 Juda arire tja tja: “Eye nga ṱokukara na vyo, tjapo ovandu mave tu yoro. Tara, ami mba hindi ongombona ndji, nangarire tji u he kemumwine.”
24 Kombunda yomieze vitatu Juda wa tjivisiwa nai: “Tamar, omukwe woye, wa katuka, neye otjingundi.”
Juda arire tja rakiza na tja: “Mu pitiseye nu mu kemunyose.”
25 Nu Tamar tja pitisiwa pendje wa hinda embo komukwe we Juda na tja: “Ami mba yakanisiwa i omurumendu omuini woviṋa mbi. Tara nawa kutja okaṋa komosengo nena nongoze yako, nokati nga okahoneno ovyauṋe.”
26 Juda arire tje vi zemburuka na tja: “Eye u ri osemba, ami owami ngu mba tataiza. Ami andakuzu mbe mu yandja komuzandu wandje Sela.” Nu Juda ka rarere pu ye rukwao.
27 Nu Tamar tja ri pokupanduka, pa munika kutja u nepaha. 28 Nu ngunda ama panduka, kemwe kaimbwi ounatje arire tji ka pitisa eke. Nomukazendu omupandukise arire tje ri kambura nakutuko orusepa oruserandu na tja: “Ingwi ongwa tenge po okupandukwa.” 29 Nungwari oko ka yarura mo eke rako. Nu inga okangu kako arire tji ka tenge po okupandukwa. Nomukazendu omupandukise arire tja tja: “Nai ove we ripambururire ondjira yoye nomasa!” Noko opu ka rukirwa Peres, okutja “Mupambo”. 30 Nu kombunda yanao okarumbi kako arire tji ka pandukwa norusepa oruserandu keke, noko ka rukwa Serak okutja “Kamuserandu”.
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.
