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Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39 Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him [a]from the (A)Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. (B)And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a [b]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master (C)saw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh (D)caused all that he did to succeed in his hand. So Joseph (E)found favor in his sight and [c]attended on him; and he appointed him overseer over his house, and (F)all that he owned he gave in his hand. Now it happened that from the time he appointed him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, Yahweh (G)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus (H)the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s hand; and with him there he did not [d]concern himself with anything except the [e]food which he [f]ate.

Now Joseph was (I)beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.

And it happened after these events (J)that his master’s wife [g]set her eyes on Joseph and said, “(K)Lie with me.” But (L)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master [h]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has given all that he owns into my hand. [i](M)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and (N)sin against God?” 10 So it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

11 Now it happened [j]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 Then she seized him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. 13 Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a [k]Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I [l]screamed. 15 Now it happened that when he heard that I raised my voice and [m]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” 16 And she placed his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she (O)spoke to him [n]with these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to laugh at me; 18 and as I raised my voice and [o]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Is Put into Jail

19 Now it happened that when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “[p]This is what your slave did to me,” (P)his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and (Q)put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. 21 But (R)Yahweh was with Joseph and [q]extended lovingkindness to him and (S)gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 So the chief jailer (T)gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was [r]the one who did it. 23 (U)The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s hand because (V)Yahweh was with him; and whatever he did, (W)Yahweh made to succeed.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 39:1 Lit from the hand of
  2. Genesis 39:2 Or prosperous
  3. Genesis 39:4 Or ministered
  4. Genesis 39:6 Lit know
  5. Genesis 39:6 Lit bread
  6. Genesis 39:6 Or used to eat
  7. Genesis 39:7 Lit lifted up her eyes at
  8. Genesis 39:8 Lit does not know what is in the house
  9. Genesis 39:9 Or He is not greater
  10. Genesis 39:11 Lit about this day
  11. Genesis 39:14 Lit Hebrew man
  12. Genesis 39:14 Lit called with a great voice
  13. Genesis 39:15 Lit called out
  14. Genesis 39:17 Lit according to
  15. Genesis 39:18 Lit called out
  16. Genesis 39:19 Lit According to these things your slave
  17. Genesis 39:21 Or turned aside, cf. 38:1, 16
  18. Genesis 39:22 Lit the doer

Joseph in Egypt

39 When Joseph was brought down to Egypt, Potiphar the Egyptian, who was an officer[a] of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down to Egypt. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became successful. He served in the house of his master the Egyptian. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made everything that he touched a success. Joseph found favor in his sight. Joseph served him, and he made Joseph manager of his household. He put Joseph in charge of everything.

From the time that Potiphar made him manager of his household, in charge of everything that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the Lord rested on everything that he had, both in the house and in the fields. So he left Joseph in charge of everything that he had. He did not concern himself with anything except the food that he ate.

Joseph was well built and handsome. Sometime after all this, his master’s wife had her eye on Joseph, and she said, “Come, lie down with me.”

But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not concern himself with anything that has been entrusted to me in the house. He has put me in charge of everything that he has. He has no one in this house greater than I am, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

10 She kept speaking to Joseph day after day, but he would not listen to her. He would not lie down beside her or even be with her. 11 But one day when he went into the house to do his work, none of the men of the household were there inside the house. 12 She caught him by his garment and said, “Come, lie down with me!” He left behind his garment in her hand and ran outside.

13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had run outside, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “Look, my husband has brought a Hebrew man in to put us to shame. He came in to lie down with me, but I screamed loudly. 15 When he heard me scream, he left behind his garment with me and ran outside.”

16 She kept his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 This is what she told him: “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came to me to put me to shame and said to me, ‘Let me lie down with you.’[b] 18 And look, when I screamed and cried out, he left behind his garment with me and ran outside.”

19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became very angry. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined, so Joseph was kept in prison there.

21 But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed mercy to him and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22 The warden of the prison made Joseph responsible for all the prisoners who were in the prison. Joseph was responsible for whatever they did there. 23 The warden of the prison did not pay attention to anything that was under his authority, because the Lord was with Joseph, and the Lord made everything that he did succeed.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 39:1 In some contexts this word can mean eunuch, but that does not seem to be the case here.
  2. Genesis 39:17 The words and said to me, “Let me lie down with you” are not in the Hebrew text but are included in the Greek Old Testament.