18. He said, "What kind of deposit should I give you?"And she said, "Your seal, its cord, and the staff in your hand." He gave these to her, slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
19. Then she got up, left, and took off her veil, dressing once again in the clothing she wore as a widow.
20. Judah sent the kid goat with his neighbor the Adullamite so he could take back the deposits from the woman, but he couldn’t find her.
21. He asked the locals of that place, "Where’s the consecrated worker who was at Enaim on the road?"But they said, "There’s no consecrated worker here."
22. So he went back to Judah and said, "I couldn’t find her. The locals even said, ‘There’s no holy woman here.’"
23. Judah said, "Let her keep everything so we aren’t laughed at. I did send this kid goat, but you couldn’t find her."
24. About three months later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has become a prostitute and is now pregnant because of it."And Judah said, "Bring her out so that she may be burned."
25. When she was brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, "I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things. See if you recognize whose seal, cord, and staff these are."
26. Judah recognized them and said, "She’s more righteous than I am, because I didn’t allow her to marry my son Shelah." Judah never knew her intimately again.
27. When she gave birth, she discovered she had twins in her womb.
28. At birth, one boy put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a red thread on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."
29. As soon as he pulled his hand back, his brother came out, and she said, "You’ve burst out on your own." So he was named Perez.
30. Afterward, his brother with the red thread on his hand came out, and he was named Zerah.