17. Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.” She answered, “I agree to that. But first you must give me something to keep until you send me the goat.”
18. Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as proof that I will send you the goat?” Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its string and your walking stick.” Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and she became pregnant.
19. Then Tamar went home, took off her veil that covered her face, and again put on the special clothes that showed she was a widow.
20. Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her.
21. He asked some of the men at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?” The men answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.”
22. So Judah’s friend went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman. The men who live in that place said that there was never a prostitute there.”
23. So Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I tried to give her the goat, but we could not find her. That is enough.”
24. About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar sinned like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” Then Judah said, “Take her out and burn her.”
25. The men went to Tamar to kill her, but she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, “The man who made me pregnant is the man who owns these things. Look at them. Whose are they? Whose special seal and string is this? Whose walking stick is this?”
26. Judah recognized these things and said, “She is right. I was wrong. I did not give her my son Shelah like I promised.” And Judah did not sleep with her again.
27. The time came for Tamar to give birth. She was going to have twins.
28. While she was giving birth, one baby put his hand out. The nurse tied a red string on the hand and said, “This baby was born first.”