18He asked, 'What pledge should I give you?' She answered, 'Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand.' So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him.
19Then she got up and left, took off her veil, and put back on her widow's garments.
20Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to retrieve the pledge from the woman, but he could not find her.
21He asked the men of the place, 'Where is the prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?' They replied, 'There has been no prostitute here.'
22So he returned to Judah and said, 'I couldn’t find her. Furthermore, the men of the place said, "There has been no prostitute here."'
23Judah said, 'Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I sent her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.'
24About three months later, Judah was told, 'Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant as a result.' Judah said, 'Bring her out and let her be burned!'
25As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, saying, 'I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.' And she added, 'Please examine them. Whose seal, cord, and staff are these?'
26Judah recognized them and said, 'She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.' And he did not have relations with her again.
27When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.