Genesis 39
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
39 And Joseph was brought into Egypt, and Putiphar an eunuch of Pharao, chief captain of the army, an Egyptian, bought him of the Ismaelites, by whom he was brought.
2 And the Lord was with him, and he was a prosperous man in all things: and he dwelt in his master's house,
3 Who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4 And Joseph found favour in the sight of his master, and ministered to him: and being set over all by him, he governed the house committed to him, and all things that were delivered to him:
5 And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and multiplied all his substance, both at home, and in the fields.
6 Neither knew he any other thing, but the bread which he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful countenance, and comely to behold.
7 And after many days his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and said: Lie with me.
8 But he, in no wise consenting to that wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house:
9 Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife: how then can I do this wicked thing, and sin against my God?
10 With such words as these day by day, both the woman was importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.
11 Now it happened on a certain day, that Joseph went into the house, and was doing some business without any, man with him:
12 And she catching the skirt of his garment, said: Lie with me. But he leaving the garment in her hand, fled, and went out.
13 And when the woman saw the garment in her hands, and herself disregarded,
14 She called to her the men of her house, and said to them: See, he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us: he came in to me, to lie with me: and when I cried out,
15 And he heard my voice, he left the garment that I held, and got him out.
16 For a proof therefore of her fidelity, she kept the garment, and shewed it to her husband when he returned home:
17 And said: The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought, came to me to abuse me.
18 And when he heard me cry, he left the garment which I held, and fled out.
19 His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit to his wife's words, was very angry.
20 And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king's prisoners were kept, and he was there shut up.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and having mercy upon him gave him favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison:
22 Who delivered into his hand all the prisoners that were kept in custody: and whatsoever was done was under him.
23 Neither did he himself know any thing, having committed all things to him: for the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper.
Genesis 39
New King James Version
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. 2 (D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful 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 (E)made all he did [a]to prosper in his hand. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
7 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.”
8 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. 9 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
- Genesis 39:3 to be a success
- Genesis 39:4 Lit. in his hand
- Genesis 39:6 Care
- Genesis 39:6 Food
- Genesis 39:7 Lit. lifted up her eyes toward
- Genesis 39:14 laugh at
- Genesis 39:21 Caused him to be viewed with favor by
- Genesis 39:23 Lit. his hand
Genesis 39
Easy-to-Read Version
Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar in Egypt
39 The traders[a] who bought Joseph took him down to Egypt. They sold him to the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, Potiphar. 2 The Lord helped Joseph become a successful man. Joseph lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3 Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord helped Joseph be successful in everything he did. 4 So Potiphar was very happy with Joseph. He allowed Joseph to work for him and to help him rule the house. Joseph was the ruler over everything Potiphar owned. 5 After Joseph was made the ruler over the house, the Lord blessed the house and everything that Potiphar owned. The Lord also blessed everything that grew in Potiphar’s fields. The Lord did this because of Joseph. 6 So Potiphar allowed Joseph to take responsibility for everything in the house. Potiphar didn’t have to worry about anything except deciding what to eat.
Joseph Refuses Potiphar’s Wife
Joseph was a very handsome, good-looking man. 7 After some time, the wife of Joseph’s master began to pay special attention to him. One day she said to him, “Sleep with me.”
8 But Joseph refused. He said, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has given me responsibility for everything here. 9 My master has made me almost equal to him in his house. I cannot sleep with his wife! That is wrong! It is a sin against God.”
10 The woman talked with Joseph every day, but he refused to sleep with her. 11 One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. He was the only man in the house at the time. 12 His master’s wife grabbed his coat and said to him, “Come to bed with me.” But Joseph ran out of the house so fast that he left his coat in her hand.
13 The woman saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hand and had run out of the house. 14 She called to the men outside and said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to make fun of us. He came in and tried to attack me, but I screamed. 15 My scream scared him and he ran away, but he left his coat with me.” 16 Then she kept his coat until her husband, Joseph’s master, came home. 17 She told her husband the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here tried to attack me! 18 But when he came near me, I screamed. He ran away, but he left his coat.”
19 Joseph’s master listened to what his wife said, and he became very angry. 20 So Potiphar put Joseph into the prison where the king’s enemies were held, and that is where Joseph remained.
Joseph in Prison
21 The Lord was with Joseph and continued to show his kindness to him, so the commander of the prison guards began to like Joseph. 22 The commander of the guards put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Joseph was their leader, but he still did the same work they did. 23 The commander of the guards trusted Joseph with everything that was in the prison. This happened because the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord helped Joseph be successful in everything he did.
Footnotes
- Genesis 39:1 traders Literally, “Ishmaelites.”
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International