11 Then Judah thought, “My sons Er and Onan, they are both dead, and they didn’t have any kids with that woman. So now, my other son Shelah has to marry that woman and have kids with her. That’s the rule in our culture. But if Shelah marries that woman, he might die too, just like Er and Onan.” So Judah got worried, and he didn’t want his son Shelah to marry that woman Tamar. So Judah talked to Tamar, and he tried to trick her. He said to her, “My son Shelah is too young to marry you now. So go back to your father’s house, and live there. Don’t get married to anyone else. Later on, Shelah will grow up, and then you can marry him.” So Tamar went back to her father’s house, and she lived there. Judah’s son Shelah grew up and became a man. But Judah didn’t keep that promise he made to Tamar. He didn’t let her marry his son Shelah.
11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at your father's house till Shelah my [youngest] son is grown; for he thought, Lest perhaps [if Shelah should marry her] he would die also, as his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.
11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.
11 Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Stay as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” He thought Shelah would die like his brothers had. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s household.
11 Because of this matter, Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Be a widow in your father's house, until my son Shelah grows up." For he was afraid, lest he also might die, just as his brothers did. She went away, and she lived in her father's house.
Tamar thought about Judah’s son Shelah. She knew that he was grown up now, but Judah still didn’t let her marry him. So Tamar thought, “I will trick Judah and get him to sleep with me, like a man sleeps with his wife, so that I can have kids. Then those kids will belong to my dead husband Er.” At that time, Tamar was wearing the sort of clothes that widows wear. But then, Tamar changed those clothes, and she put on some pretty clothes, and she put a scarf over her head, to cover her face. Then she went and sat outside the town called Enayim. That town is on the road that goes to Timnah.