Genesis 39:6-20
New Living Translation
6 So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”
16 She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. 17 Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said. 18 “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”
Joseph Put in Prison
19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.
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Genesis 39:6-20
International Standard Version
6 Everything that he owned, he entrusted into Joseph’s care. He never concerned himself about anything, except for the food he ate.
Potiphar’s Wife Accuses Joseph
Now Joseph was well built and good looking. 7 That’s why, sometime later, Joseph’s master’s wife looked straight at Joseph and propositioned him: “Come on! Let’s have a little sex!”[a]
8 But he refused, telling his master’s wife, “Look! My master doesn’t have to worry about anything in the house with me in charge, and he has entrusted everything into my care. 9 No one has more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld nothing from me, except you, and that’s because you’re his wife. So how can I commit such a horrible evil? How can I sin against God?”
10 She kept on talking to him like this day after day, but he wouldn’t listen to her. Not only would he refuse to have sex with her, he refused even to stay around her. 11 One day, though,[b] he went into the house to do his work. None of the household servants[c] were inside, 12 so she grabbed Joseph[d] by his outer garment and demanded “Let’s have some sex!”
Instead, Joseph ran outside, leaving his outer garment still in her hand. 13 When she realized that he had left his outer garment right there in her hand, she ran outside 14 and yelled for her household servants. “Look!” she cried out. “My husband[e] brought in a Hebrew man to humiliate us. He came in here to have sex with me, but I screamed out loud! 15 When he heard me starting to scream, he left his outer garment with me and fled outside.” 16 She kept his outer garment by her side until Joseph’s master came home, 17 and then this is what she told him: “That Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came in here to rape[f] me. 18 But when I started to scream, he left his outer garment with me and ran outside.”
Joseph is Locked in Prison
19 When Joseph’s master heard his wife’s claim to the effect that “This is how your servant treated me,” he flew into a rage, 20 arrested Joseph, and locked him up in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph remained there in prison.
Read full chapterNotas al pie
- Genesis 39:7 Lit. Lie down with me
- Genesis 39:11 Lit. About this time
- Genesis 39:11 Lit. men
- Genesis 39:12 Lit. him
- Genesis 39:14 Lit. He
- Genesis 39:17 Or humiliate
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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