Joseph’s Success in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him [a]from the (A)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. And (B)the Lord 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 the Lord was with him and that the Lord (D)made all that he did prosper in his hand. So Joseph (E)found favor in his sight and [c]became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and [d]put him in charge of (F)all that he owned. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord (G)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so (H)the Lords blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left [e]Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not [f]concern himself with anything except the [g]food which he [h]ate.

Now Joseph was (I)handsome in form and appearance. And it came about after these events (J)that his master’s wife [i]had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “(K)Sleep with me.” But (L)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master [j]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has [k]put me in charge of all that he owns. [l](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 Though 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 [m]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. 12 So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 13 [n]When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a [o]Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I [p]screamed. 15 When he heard that I raised my voice and [q]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” 16 So she [r]left his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she (O)spoke to him [s]with these [t]words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; 18 but when I raised my voice and [u]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Imprisoned

19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “[v]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 prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. 21 But (R)the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and (S)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22 And the warden of the prison [w](T)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was [x]responsible for it. 23 (U)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything [y]under Joseph’s authority, because (V)the Lord was with him; and, (W)the Lord made whatever he did prosper.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 39:1 Lit from the hand of
  2. Genesis 39:2 Or prosperous
  3. Genesis 39:4 Or ministered to him
  4. Genesis 39:4 Lit handed over to him
  5. Genesis 39:6 Lit in Joseph’s hand
  6. Genesis 39:6 Lit know
  7. Genesis 39:6 Lit bread
  8. Genesis 39:6 Or used to eat
  9. Genesis 39:7 Lit lifted up her eyes at
  10. Genesis 39:8 Lit does not know what is in the house
  11. Genesis 39:8 Lit handed over to me
  12. Genesis 39:9 Or He is not greater
  13. Genesis 39:11 Lit about this day
  14. Genesis 39:13 Lit And it came about when
  15. Genesis 39:14 Lit Hebrew man
  16. Genesis 39:14 Lit called with a great voice
  17. Genesis 39:15 Lit called out
  18. Genesis 39:16 Lit let...lie beside
  19. Genesis 39:17 Lit according to
  20. Genesis 39:17 Lit words, saying
  21. Genesis 39:18 Lit called out
  22. Genesis 39:19 Lit According to these things your slave
  23. Genesis 39:22 Lit handed over to Joseph all
  24. Genesis 39:22 Lit the doer
  25. Genesis 39:23 Lit in his hand

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 guards, bought him from the Ishmaelites(A) who had brought him there. The Lord was with Joseph,(B) and he became a successful man, serving[a] in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful,(C) Joseph found favor(D) with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.[b] 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. 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) After some time his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

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.[d] 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 this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?” (G)

10 Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her.[e] 11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there.[f] 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 her 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,[g] he left his garment beside 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,[h] he left his garment beside 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 with the prison warden.(J) 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority,[i] and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority,[j] because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.(K)

Footnotes

  1. 39:2 Lit and he was
  2. 39:4 Lit owned in his hand
  3. 39:6 Lit owned in Joseph’s hand
  4. 39:8 Lit owns in my hand
  5. 39:10 Lit he did not listen to her to lie beside her, to be with her
  6. 39:11 Lit there in the house
  7. 39:15 Lit he heard that I raised my voice and I screamed
  8. 39:18 Lit I raised my voice and screamed
  9. 39:22 Lit prison in the hand of Joseph
  10. 39:23 Lit anything in his hand