Genesis 39
King James Version
39 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
Genesis 39
Living Bible
39 When Joseph arrived in Egypt as a captive of the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased from them by Potiphar, a member of the personal staff of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Now this man Potiphar was the captain of the king’s bodyguard and his chief executioner. 2 The Lord greatly blessed Joseph there in the home of his master, so that everything he did succeeded. 3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph in a very special way. 4 So Joseph naturally became quite a favorite with him. Soon he was put in charge of the administration of Potiphar’s household, and all of his business affairs. 5 At once the Lord began blessing Potiphar for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs began to run smoothly, his crops flourished and his flocks multiplied. 6 So Potiphar gave Joseph the complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. He hadn’t a worry in the world with Joseph there, except to decide what he wanted to eat! Joseph, by the way, was a very handsome young man.
7 One day at about this time Potiphar’s wife began making eyes at Joseph, and suggested that he come and sleep with her.
8 Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in the entire household; 9 he himself has no more authority here than I have! He has held back nothing from me except you yourself because you are his wife. How can I do such a wicked thing as this? It would be a great sin against God.”
10 But she kept on with her suggestions day after day, even though he refused to listen, and kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 Then one day as he was in the house going about his work—as it happened, no one else was around at the time— 12 she came and grabbed him by the sleeve[a] demanding, “Sleep with me.” He tore himself away, but as he did, his jacket slipped off and she was left holding it as he fled from the house. 13 When she saw that she had his jacket, and that he had fled, 14-15 she began screaming; and when the other men around the place came running in to see what had happened, she was crying hysterically. “My husband had to bring in this Hebrew slave to insult us!” she sobbed. “He tried to rape me, but when I screamed, he ran, and forgot to take his jacket.”
16 She kept the jacket, and when her husband came home that night, 17 she told him her story.
“That Hebrew slave you’ve had around here tried to rape me, 18 and I was only saved by my screams. He fled, leaving his jacket behind!”
19 Well, when her husband heard his wife’s story, he was furious. 20 He threw Joseph into prison, where the king’s prisoners were kept in chains. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph there, too, and was kind to him by granting him favor with the chief jailer. 22 In fact, the jailer soon handed over the entire prison administration to Joseph, so that all the other prisoners were responsible to him. 23 The chief jailer had no more worries after that, for Joseph took care of everything, and the Lord was with him so that everything ran smoothly and well.
Footnotes
- Genesis 39:12 sleeve. The Hebrew word is not specific.
Genesis 39
GOD’S WORD Translation
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
39 Joseph had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s Egyptian officials and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful. 4 Potiphar liked Joseph so much that he made him his trusted servant. He put him in charge of his household and everything he owned. 5 From that time on the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. Therefore, the Lord’s blessing was on everything Potiphar owned in his house and in his fields. 6 So he left all that he owned in Joseph’s care. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the food he ate.
Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph, so she said, “Come to bed with me.”
8 But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. 9 No one in this house is greater than I. He’s kept nothing back from me except you, because you’re his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 Although she kept asking Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her.
11 One day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. 12 She grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he ran outside and left his clothes in her hand.
13 When she realized that he had gone but had left his clothes behind, 14 she called her household servants and said to them, “Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. 15 As soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”
16 She kept Joseph’s clothes with her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried to fool around with me. 18 But when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”
19 When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, especially when she said, “This is what your slave did to me,” he became very angry. 20 So Joseph’s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept.
While Joseph was in prison, 21 the Lord was with him. The Lord reached out to him with his unchanging love and gave him protection. The Lord also put Joseph on good terms with the warden. 22 So the warden placed Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in that prison. Joseph became responsible for everything that they were doing. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made whatever he did successful.
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