17
And he said, I will send
thee from the sheep a kid
from the goats. And she said, Wilt thou give
me a pledge until thou send
it?
18
Then he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy mantel and thy staff that
is in thine hand. And he gave them
to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19
And she arose and went away and took off her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20
And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive
his pledge from the woman’s hand; but he did not find her.
21
Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where
is the cult prostitute of the waters by the way side? And they said, There was no cult prostitute in this
place.
22
And he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said
that there was no cult prostitute in this
place.
23
And Judah said, Let her take
the things for herself lest we be shamed; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24
And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar, thy daughter-in-law, has played the harlot; and also, behold, she
is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth and let her be burnt.
25
When she
was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man whose these
are,
am I with child; and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose
are these, the signet and mantel and staff.
26
Then Judah acknowledged
them, and said, She has been more righteous than I because I did not give her to Shelah, my son. And he knew her again no more.
27
And it came to pass in the time of her travail that, behold, twins
were in her womb.