Gen 38:15-21 | ESV | STEP | When Judah saw her , he thought she was a prostitute , for she had covered her face .

Genesis 38:15-21

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, ^a“Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off ^bher veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute ^{▼▼Hebrew sacred woman; a woman who served a pagan deity by prostitution; also verse 22} who was at ^dEnaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.”