The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield

Of David.

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and ^(A)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(B)had bought him from the ^(C)Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ^2 (D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(E)caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. ⁴ So Joseph ^(F)found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house ^(G)and put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house ^(H)for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. ⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was ^(I)handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and ^(J)he has put everything that he has in my charge. ⁹ He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and ^(K)sin against God?” ¹⁰ And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he ^(L)would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

¹¹ But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, ^12 (M)she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. ¹³ And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” ¹⁶ Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

¹⁹ As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. ²⁰ And Joseph's master took him and ^(N)put him into the ^(O)prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. ²¹ But ^(P)the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love ^(Q)and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison ^(R)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³ The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because ^(S)the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(A)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(B)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[a] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(C)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(D)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(E)to answer back to God? ^(F)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (G)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(H)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(I)vessels of wrath ^(J)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(K)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(L)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(M)has called, ^(N)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(R)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[b] be as the sand of the sea, ^(S)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,