Psalm 28

Of David.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph^(A) had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard,^(B) bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.^(C)

² The Lord was with Joseph^(D) so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him^(E) and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,^{(F) 4} Joseph found favor in his eyes^(G) and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household,^(H) and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.^{(I) 5} From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household^(J) of the Egyptian because of Joseph.^(K) The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.^{(L) 6} So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care;^(M) with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,^{(N) 7} and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(O)

⁸ But he refused.^(P) “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.^{(Q) 9} No one is greater in this house than I am.^(R) My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”^{(S) 10} And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^(T) to go to bed with her or even be with her.

¹¹ One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,^(U) and none of the household servants^(V) was inside. ¹² She caught him by his cloak^(W) and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(X) But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.^(Y)

¹³ When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴ she called her household servants.^(Z) “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew^(AA) has been brought to us to make sport of us!^(AB) He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.^{(AC) 15} When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”^(AD)

¹⁶ She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story:^(AE) “That Hebrew^(AF) slave^(AG) you brought us came to me to make sport of me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.^{(AH) 20} Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,^(AI) the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ the Lord was with him;^(AJ) he showed him kindness^(AK) and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.^{(AL) 22} So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.^{(AM) 23} The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s^(AN) care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.^(AO)

¹⁴ What then shall we say?^(A) Is God unjust? Not at all!^{(B) 15} For he says to Moses,

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.^{(D) 17} For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[b](E) 18} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(F)

¹⁹ One of you will say to me:^(G) “Then why does God still blame us?^(H) For who is able to resist his will?”^{(I) 20} But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^(J) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,^(K) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”^{[c](L) 21} Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?^(M)

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(N) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(O) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(P) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(Q)— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called,^(R) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^{(S) 25} As he says in Hosea:

²⁶ and,

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously: