17
He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give me a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest.
18
Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.
19
And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.
20
And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,
21
Asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,
22
He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her; moreover, the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a harlot there.
23
Juda said: Let her take it to herself, surely she cannot charge us with a lie, I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not find her.
24
And behold, after three months, they told Juda, saying: Thamar, thy daughter-in-law, hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said: Bring her out that she may be burnt.
25
But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child. See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.
26
But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I: because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However he knew her no more.
27
And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying: