Judah

She conceived yet again, had a son and said, "This time I will praise ADONAI"; therefore she named him Y'hudah [praise]. Then she stopped having children.

The sons of Le'ah were Re'uven Ya'akov's firstborn, Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar and Z'vulun.

Y'hudah said to his brothers, "What advantage is it to us if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

It was at this time that Y'hudah went off from his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah who was an 'Adulami.

There Y'hudah saw one of the daughters of a certain Kena'ani whose name was Shua, and he took her and slept with her.

Y'hudah took a wife for 'Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

But 'Er, Y'hudah's firstborn, was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI killed him.

Y'hudah said to Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's wife - perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and preserve your brother's line of descent."

Then Y'hudah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"; for he thought, "I don't want him to die too, like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived at home with her father.

In due time, Shua's daughter, the wife of Y'hudah, died. After Y'hudah had been comforted, he went up to be with his sheep-shearers in Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the 'Adulami.

When Y'hudah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face.

Y'hudah sent the kid with his friend the 'Adulami to receive the guarantee items back from the woman, but he couldn't find her.

So he returned to Y'hudah and said, "I couldn't find her; also the people there said, 'There hasn't been any prostitute here.'"

Y'hudah said, "All right, let her keep the things, so that we won't be publicly shamed. I sent the kid, but you didn't find her."

About three months later Y'hudah was told, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has been acting like a whore; moreover, she is pregnant as a result of her prostitution."Y'hudah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned alive!"

Then Y'hudah acknowledged owning them. He said, "She is more righteous than I, because I didn't let her become the wife of my son Shelah." And he never slept with her again.

Y'hudah said to him, "The man expressly warned us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

Y'hudah said to Isra'el his father, "Send the boy with me; and we will make preparations and leave; so that we may stay alive and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

Y'hudah and his brothers arrived at Yosef's house. He was still there, and they fell down before him on the ground. (S: Maftir)

Y'hudah said, "There's nothing we can say to my lord! How can we speak? There's no way we can clear ourselves! God has revealed your servants' guilt; so here we are, my lord's slaves - both we and also the one in whose possession the cup was found."

Then Y'hudah approached Yosef and said, "Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don't be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.

The sons of Y'hudah: 'Er, Onan, Shelah, Peretz and Zerach; but 'Er and Onan died in the land of Kena'an. The sons of Peretz were Hetzron and Hamul.

Ya'akov sent Y'hudah ahead of him to Yosef, so that the latter might guide him on the road to Goshen; thus they arrived in the land of Goshen.

"Y'hudah, your brothers will acknowledge you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down before you.

Y'hudah is a lion's cub; my son, you stand over the prey. He crouches down and stretches like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to provoke him?