15. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, since she had covered her face.
16. So he went over to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me have intercourse with you,” for he did not realize that she was his daughter-in-law. She replied, “What will you pay me for letting you have intercourse with me?”
17. He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” “Very well,” she said, “provided you leave me a pledge until you send it.”
18. Judah asked, “What pledge should I leave you?” She answered, “Your seal and cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had intercourse with her, and she conceived by him.
19. After she got up and went away, she took off her shawl and put on her widow’s garments again.
20. Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to recover the pledge from the woman; but he did not find her.
21. So he asked the men of that place, “Where is the prostitute, the one by the roadside in Enaim?” But they answered, “No prostitute has been here.”
22. He went back to Judah and told him, “I did not find her; and besides, the men of the place said, ‘No prostitute has been here.’”
23. “Let her keep the things,” Judah replied; “otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you did not find her.”