Joseph in Egypt

39 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and they sold him there as a slave. Potiphar bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. He was one of Pharaoh's officers. He had authority over all the guards. ² The Lord was with Joseph, so that good things happened to him. Joseph lived in the house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the Lord helped Joseph to do good work. ⁴ So Joseph pleased Potiphar. Potiphar gave Joseph authority as his special servant. Joseph took care of everything that belonged to Potiphar. ⁵ From the time that Potiphar gave Joseph authority over everything in his house, the Lord blessed the people of Potiphar's house, his animals and his crops. The Lord blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.

⁶ So Potiphar told Joseph to take care of everything that belonged to him. Potiphar did not worry about anything in his house. The only thing that he thought about was the food that he ate.

Joseph was a strong and handsome man. ⁷ After some time had passed, Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph was handsome. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ ⁸ But Joseph refused to do that. He said, ‘My master does not need to think about anything in the house. I take care of everything that belongs to him. ⁹ No one has more authority in this house than I do. My master keeps nothing from me, except you. That is because you are his wife. I could not do such a bad thing. I could not do a sin that is against God.’

¹⁰ Potiphar's wife continued to speak to Joseph every day. But he would not agree to go to bed with her. He would not even go near her. ¹¹ One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. None of the other servants were there in the house. ¹² Potiphar's wife suddenly took hold of Joseph's coat. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ Joseph left his coat in her hand and he ran out of the house.

¹³ Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hand. She saw that he had run out of the house. ¹⁴ So she called her servants to come. She said to them, ‘Look at this! The Hebrew man that Potiphar brought to work here does not respect us! He came in here and he tried to have sex with me. But I screamed loudly. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream like that, he ran out of the house. But he left his coat here with me.’

¹⁶ Potiphar's wife kept the coat beside her until Joseph's master, Potiphar, came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story: ‘The Hebrew slave that you brought to us tried to insult me. He wanted to sleep with me. ¹⁸ But I screamed loudly for help. So he left his coat with me and he ran out of the house.’

¹⁹ Joseph's master heard the story that his wife told him. She said, ‘This is what your slave did to me.’ When Potiphar heard that, he was very angry. ²⁰ He took hold of Joseph, and he put him in prison. It was the place where the king put his own prisoners. ²¹ While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was still with him. He was kind to Joseph. He caused the leader of the prison guards to like Joseph. ²² So this man gave Joseph authority over all the other prisoners. Joseph was responsible for everything that they did in the prison. ²³ The prison guard did not worry about anything that Joseph had authority over. He saw that the Lord was with Joseph. Whatever Joseph did, the Lord helped him to do it well.