⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him [in judgment]. ⁸ Then Judah told Onan, “Go in to your brother’s widow, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom]; [be her husband and] raise children for [the name of] your brother.”^{(A) 9} Onan knew that the child (heir) would not be his [but his dead brother’s]; so whenever he lay with his brother’s widow, he spilled his seed on the ground [to prevent conception], so that he would not give a child to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; therefore He killed him also [in judgment].