Genesis 39
Legacy Standard Bible
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. 2 (B)And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a [b]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master (C)saw that Yahweh was with him and how Yahweh (D)caused all that he did to succeed in his hand. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
7 And it happened after these events (J)that his master’s wife [g]set her eyes on Joseph and said, “(K)Lie with me.” 8 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. 9 [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
- Genesis 39:1 Lit from the hand of
- Genesis 39:2 Or prosperous
- Genesis 39:4 Or ministered
- Genesis 39:6 Lit know
- Genesis 39:6 Lit bread
- Genesis 39:6 Or used to eat
- Genesis 39:7 Lit lifted up her eyes at
- Genesis 39:8 Lit does not know what is in the house
- Genesis 39:9 Or He is not greater
- Genesis 39:11 Lit about this day
- Genesis 39:14 Lit Hebrew man
- Genesis 39:14 Lit called with a great voice
- Genesis 39:15 Lit called out
- Genesis 39:17 Lit according to
- Genesis 39:18 Lit called out
- Genesis 39:19 Lit According to these things your slave
- Genesis 39:21 Or turned aside, cf. 38:1, 16
- Genesis 39:22 Lit the doer
Genesis 39
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 39
Joseph’s Temptation. 1 When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, an Egyptian, Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 2 (A)The Lord was with Joseph and he enjoyed great success and was assigned to the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and brought him success in whatever he did, 4 he favored Joseph and made him his personal attendant; he put him in charge of his household and entrusted to him all his possessions.(B) 5 From the moment that he put him in charge of his household and all his possessions, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both inside the house and out. 6 Having left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge, he gave no thought, with Joseph there, to anything but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After a time, his master’s wife looked at him with longing and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, as long as I am here, my master does not give a thought to anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. 9 He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld from me nothing but you, since you are his wife. How, then, could I do this great wrong and sin against God?” 10 Although she spoke to him day after day, he would not agree to lie with her, or even be near her.(C)
11 One such day, when Joseph came into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were then in the house, 12 she laid hold of him by his cloak, saying, “Lie with me!” But leaving the cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand as he escaped outside, 14 she cried out to her household servants and told them, “Look! My husband has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us! He came in here to lie with me, but I cried out loudly. 15 When he heard me scream, he left his cloak beside me and escaped and ran outside.”
16 She kept the cloak with her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought us came to me to amuse himself at my expense. 18 But when I screamed, he left his cloak beside me and escaped outside.” 19 When the master heard his wife’s story in which she reported, “Thus and so your servant did to me,” he became enraged. 20 Joseph’s master seized him and put him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were confined.(D) And there he sat, in jail.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him kindness by making the chief jailer well-disposed toward him.(E) 22 The chief jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the jail. Everything that had to be done there, he was the one to do it. 23 The chief jailer did not have to look after anything that was in Joseph’s charge, since the Lord was with him and was bringing success to whatever he was doing.
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