Study Desk

So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death?

Reuben had been gone, but when he came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes to show that he was upset.

His father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph's. He said, "Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal!"

Jacob was so sorry about his son that he tore his clothes. Then Jacob put on special clothes to show that he was sad. He continued to be sad about his son for a long time.

All of Jacob's sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but Jacob was never comforted. He said, "I will be sad about my son until the day I die." So Jacob continued to mourn his son Joseph.

The Midianite traders later sold Joseph in Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, an officer of the king of Egypt and the captain of his palace guards.

About that time, Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam.

Then she had another son named Shelah. Judah lived in Kezib when his third son was born.

Judah chose a woman named Tamar to be the wife of his first son Er.

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Go back to your father's house. Stay there and don't marry until my young son Shelah grows up." Judah was afraid that Shelah would also be killed like his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's home.

Later, Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah's time of sadness, he went to Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam. Judah went to Timnah to have the wool cut from his sheep.

Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.

So he went to her and said, "Let me have sex with you." (Judah did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.) She said, "How much will you give me?"

Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her.

While she was giving birth, one baby put his hand out. The nurse tied a red string on the hand and said, "This baby was born first."

But that baby pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. So the nurse said, "You were able to break out first!" So they named him Perez.

After this, the other baby was born. This was the baby with the red string on his hand. They named him Zerah.

The Lord helped Joseph become a successful man. Joseph lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.

But Joseph refused. He said, "My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has given me responsibility for everything here.

My master has made me almost equal to him in his house. I cannot sleep with his wife! That is wrong! It is a sin against God."