Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken (A)down to Egypt. And (B)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, (C)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. (D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord (E)made all he did [a]to prosper in his hand. So Joseph (F)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him (G)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put [b]under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that (H)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s [c]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the [d]bread which he ate.

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

And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife [e]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, (J)“Lie with me.”

But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. (K)How then can I do this great wickedness, and (L)sin against God?”

10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he (M)did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she (N)caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a (O)Hebrew to [f]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she (P)spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18 so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his (Q)anger was aroused. 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and (R)put him into the (S)prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He (T)gave[g] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison (U)committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under [h]Joseph’s authority, because (V)the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 39:3 to be a success
  2. Genesis 39:4 Lit. in his hand
  3. Genesis 39:6 Care
  4. Genesis 39:6 Food
  5. Genesis 39:7 Lit. lifted up her eyes toward
  6. Genesis 39:14 laugh at
  7. Genesis 39:21 Caused him to be viewed with favor by
  8. Genesis 39:23 Lit. his hand

José y la esposa de Potifar

39 Cuando José llegó a Egipto, fue vendido por los ismaelitas a Potifar, que era un egipcio muy importante, ya que era el capitán de la guardia personal del faraón. El Señor bendijo mucho a José en la casa de su amo, de modo que tenía éxito en todo lo que emprendía. Potifar comprendió que el Señor estaba con José de una manera muy especial. Por supuesto, José llegó a ser su persona de confianza. Pronto estuvo a cargo de la administración de la hacienda y todos los negocios de Potifar. Inmediatamente, Dios comenzó a bendecir a Potifar, por amor a José. Todos los asuntos de su hacienda comenzaron a prosperar, sus cosechas aumentaron y se multiplicó su ganado. Por esa razón, Potifar le entregó a José la responsabilidad de administrar todas sus posesiones. Potifar no tenía nada de qué preocuparse, sino de comer.

Además de las cualidades mencionadas, José era un joven bien parecido. Un día la mujer de Potifar comenzó a fijarse en José, se enamoró de él y lo invitó a tener relaciones sexuales con ella. Pero José se rehusó a hacerlo, y le dijo:

―Señora, mi amo confía en mí en todo lo relacionado con su hacienda; él me ha dado toda su autoridad. No me ha prohibido ninguna cosa. Solamente sobre usted yo no tengo ningún derecho, pues usted es su esposa. ¿Cómo podría yo hacerle una maldad tan grande como esta? Sería un pecado muy grande contra Dios.

10 Pero ella continuó con sus insinuaciones día tras día, a pesar de que él se negaba y evitaba en todo lo posible encontrarse con ella a solas. 11 Un día, mientras José estaba haciendo sus quehaceres en la casa, ella aprovechó que no había nadie más en la casa, 12 lo agarró de la túnica y le ordenó:

―¡Acuéstate conmigo!

Él salió corriendo, pero ella logró echarle mano del manto y se lo quitó. 13 Cuando ella vio el manto de José en sus manos, y que él había huido, 14-15 comenzó a gritar. Cuando los otros hombres que estaban cerca llegaron corriendo para ver lo que ocurría, ella comenzó a gritar histéricamente.

―¡Mi marido tenía que traer a ese esclavo hebreo para que nos insultara! —dijo llorando—. Trató de violarme, pero cuando grité, huyó y olvidó llevarse el manto.

16 Ella guardó el manto, y cuando Potifar regresó a casa esa noche, 17 le dijo:

―¡El esclavo hebreo que tienes aquí quiso violarme, 18 y solamente mis gritos me salvaron! ¡Al salir corriendo se le quedó su manto!

19 Cuando Potifar oyó esto, se enfureció. 20 Tomó preso a José y lo echó en la cárcel donde tenían encadenados a los prisioneros del rey. 21 Pero el Señor estuvo con José también allí y le mostró su amor, permitiendo que se ganara la confianza del carcelero. 22 El hecho es que el carcelero pronto le entregó el cuidado de los prisioneros y lo dejó a cargo de todo lo demás que se hacía en la cárcel. 23 Por eso, el carcelero ya no se preocupaba de nada, porque José tenía cuidado de cada cosa y el Señor hacía que todas las cosas le salieran bien.