in his house until Shelah could grown up, thinking that if Tamar wed Shelah, he might also die. Later, when Judah's wife died, he went with his friend Hirah to his sheep-shearers at Timnah. When Tamar learned that Judah had gone to Timnah, she took off her widow's garments and put on a veil and sat on the road to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah had grown up and Judah had not given her to be his wife. Judah took her for a harlot, offered her a young goat for her services, and gave her his signet and staff as a pledge for payment, and they cohabited and she conceived. Judah sent Hirah to deliver the young goat and collect his pledge, but he asked about and did not find her. When Hirah reported to Judah that the men of the place said that there had been no harlot there, Judah put the matter to rest so as not to be put to shame. About three months later, Judah heard that Tamar had played the harlot and become pregnant, and he ordered her to be brought forth and burned. When they seized her, she sent Judah the pledge to identify, saying that she was pregnant by the man whose things they were. Judah acknowledged them and said that she was more righteous than he, inasmuch as he had failed to give her to Shelah. When Tamar delivered, one twin—whom she would name Zerah—put out a hand and the midwife bound it with a scarlet thread, but then he drew it back and his brother—whom she would name Perez—came out. The fourth reading and a closed portion end here with the end of chapter . Fifth reading—Genesis 39:1–6 In the fifth reading, in chapter , Pharaoh's captain of the guard Potiphar bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. When Potiphar saw that God was with Joseph and prospered all that he did, Potiphar appointed him overseer over his house and gave him charge of all that he had, and God blessed Pharaoh's house for Joseph's sake. Now Joseph was handsome. The fifth reading ends here. Sixth reading—Genesis 39:7–23 In the sixth reading, Potiphar's wife repeatedly asked Joseph to lie with her, but he declined, asking how he could sin so against Potiphar and God. One day, when the men of the house were away, she caught him by his garment and asked