Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39 Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites^(A) who had brought him there. ² The Lord was with Joseph,^(B) and he became a successful man, serving^[a] in the household of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful,^{(C) 4} Joseph found favor in his master’s sight^(D) and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.^{[b] 5} From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph.^(E) The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. ⁶ He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority;^[c] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.^{(F) 7} After some time^[d] his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

⁸ But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority.^{[e] 9} No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”^(G)

¹⁰ Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^[f] to go to bed with her.^{[g] 11} Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there.^{[h] 12} She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called the household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵ When he heard me screaming for help,^[i] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁶ She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, ¹⁸ but when I screamed for help,^[j] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious ²⁰ and had him thrown into prison,^(H) where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

Joseph in Prison

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.^(I) He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.^{(J) 22} The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority,^[k] and he was responsible for everything that was done there. ²³ The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority,^[l] because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.^(K)

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

40 After this, the Egyptian king’s cupbearer^(L) and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard^(M) in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to them, and he became their personal attendant. And they were in custody for some time.^[m]

⁵ The Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”^(N)

⁸ “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”^(O)

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² “This is its interpretation,”^(P) Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³ In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head^(Q) and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews,^(R) and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”^(S)

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ “This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree.^[n] Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”^[o]

²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.^{(T) 21} Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But Pharaoh hanged^[p] the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.^(U)

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 Two years later Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,^{(V) 2} when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. ³ After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. ⁵ He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk. ⁶ After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream.

⁸ When morning came, he was troubled,^(W) so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.^(X) Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. ¹⁰ Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. ¹² Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. ¹³ It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”^(Y)

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.^(Z) He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.^(AA)

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”^(AB)

¹⁶ “I am not able to,”^(AC) Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^[q](AD)

True Relationships

⁴⁶ He^(A) was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him.^{(B) 47} Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”^[a]

⁴⁸ But He replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples,^(C) He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.”^(D)

The Parable of the Sower

13 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.^{(E) 2} Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.^(F)

³ Then He told them many things in parables,^(G) saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. ⁷ Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. ⁸ Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.^{(H) 9} Anyone who has ears^[b] should listen!”^(I)

Why Jesus Used Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples^(J) came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”^(K)

¹¹ He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,^(L) but it has not been given to them. ¹² For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.^{(M) 13} For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,^(N) and hearing they do not listen or understand.^{(O) 14} Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

¹⁶ “But your eyes are blessed^(R) because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!^{(S) 17} For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.^(T)

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “You, then, listen to the parable of the sower:^{(U) 19} When anyone hears the word^[d] about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.^{(V) 20} And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.^{(W) 21} Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution^(X) comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²² Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age^(Y) and the seduction^[e] of wealth^(Z) choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”

Psalm 17

A Prayer for Protection

A Davidic prayer.