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 eldest 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.”
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.”