ARKCODEX
Genesis
Ch. 38
Judah and Tamar
1About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam.
2There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her,
3and she bore him a son, whom he named Er.
4She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan.
5Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born.
6For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar.
7Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him.
8Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants.”
9But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother.
10What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also.
11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father's house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home.
12After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared.
13Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep.
14So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage.
15When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered.
16He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “All right, how much do you charge?” (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.) She said, “What will you give me?”
17He answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.” She said, “All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat.”
18“What shall I give you as a pledge?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant.
19Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on.
20Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her.
21He asked some men at Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?” “There has never been a prostitute here,” they answered.
22He returned to Judah and said, “I couldn't find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there.”
23Judah said, “Let her keep the things. We don't want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn't find her.”
24About three months later someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant.” Judah ordered, “Take her out and burn her to death.”
25As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are—this seal with its cord and this walking stick.”
26Judah recognized them and said, “She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her—I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage.” And Judah never had intercourse with her again.
27When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins.
28While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, “This one was born first.”
29But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, “So this is how you break your way out!” So he was named Perez.
30Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.
Job
Ch. 29–30
Job's Final Statement of His Case
1Job began speaking again.
Job
2If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me.
3God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness.
4Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home.
5Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children.
6My cows and goats gave plenty of milk, and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil.
7Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them,
8young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect.
9The leaders of the people would stop talking;
10even the most important men kept silent.
11Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done.
12When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn.
13People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security.
14I have always acted justly and fairly.
15I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame.
16I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble.
17I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims.
18I always expected to live a long life and to die at home in comfort.
19I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew.
20Everyone was always praising me, and my strength never failed me.
21When I gave advice, people were silent and listened carefully to what I said;
22they had nothing to add when I had finished. My words sank in like drops of rain;
23everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring.
24I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them.
25I took charge and made the decisions; I led them as a king leads his troops, and gave them comfort in their despair.
Job 30
1But men younger than I am make fun of me now! Their fathers have always been so worthless that I wouldn't let them help my dogs guard sheep.
2They were a bunch of worn-out men, too weak to do any work for me.
3They were so poor and hungry that they would gnaw dry roots— at night, in wild, desolate places.
4They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them, even the tasteless roots of the broom tree!
5Everyone drove them away with shouts, as if they were shouting at thieves.
6They had to live in caves, in holes dug in the sides of cliffs.
7Out in the wilds they howled like animals and huddled together under the bushes.
8A worthless bunch of nameless nobodies! They were driven out of the land.
9Now they come and laugh at me; I am nothing but a joke to them.
10They treat me with disgust; they think they are too good for me, and even come and spit in my face.
11Because God has made me weak and helpless, they turn against me with all their fury.
12This mob attacks me head-on; they send me running; they prepare their final assault.
13They cut off my escape and try to destroy me; and there is no one to stop them.
14They pour through the holes in my defenses and come crashing down on top of me;
15I am overcome with terror; my dignity is gone like a puff of wind, and my prosperity like a cloud.
16Now I am about to die; there is no relief for my suffering.
17At night my bones all ache; the pain that gnaws me never stops.
18God seizes me by my collar and twists my clothes out of shape.
19He throws me down in the mud; I am no better than dirt.
20I call to you, O God, but you never answer; and when I pray, you pay no attention.
21You are treating me cruelly; you persecute me with all your power.
22You let the wind blow me away; you toss me about in a raging storm.
23I know you are taking me off to my death, to the fate in store for everyone.
24Why do you attack a ruined man, one who can do nothing but beg for pity?
25Didn't I weep with people in trouble and feel sorry for those in need?
26I hoped for happiness and light, but trouble and darkness came instead.
27I am torn apart by worry and pain; I have had day after day of suffering.
28I go about in gloom, without any sunshine; I stand up in public and plead for help.
29My voice is as sad and lonely as the cries of a jackal or an ostrich.
30My skin has turned dark; I am burning with fever.
31Where once I heard joyful music, now I hear only mourning and weeping.
Proverbs
Ch. 3
28Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now.
29Don't plan anything that will hurt your neighbors; they live beside you, trusting you.
30Don't argue with others for no reason when they have never done you any harm.
31Don't be jealous of violent people or decide to act as they do,
32because the Lord hates people who do evil, but he takes righteous people into his confidence.