¹⁴she took off her widow’s clothes, covered her face with a veil, and disguised herself. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. (She did this because she realized that Shelah was grown up now, and she hadn’t been given to him in marriage.)

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. ¹⁶Since he didn’t know she was his daughter-in-law, he approached her by the roadside and said, “Come on, let’s sleep together!”

She asked, “What will you pay to sleep with me?”

¹⁷“I’ll send you a young goat from the flock,” he answered.

She said, “First give me something as a deposit until you send it.”

¹⁸“What should I give you as a deposit?” he asked.

“Your signet ring, its cord, and the shepherd’s staff that’s in your hand,” she answered.

So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her, and she became pregnant. ¹⁹After she got up and left, she took off her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.

²⁰Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat so that he could get back his deposit from the woman, but his friend couldn’t find her. ²¹He asked the men of that area, “Where’s that prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There’s no prostitute here,” they answered.

²²So he went back to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Even the men of that area said, ‘There’s no prostitute here.’ ”

²³Then Judah said, “Let her keep what I gave her, or we’ll become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

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