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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. The Lord helped Joseph become a successful man. Joseph lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.

Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord helped Joseph be successful in everything he did. 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. 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. 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. 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.”

But Joseph refused. He said, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has given me responsibility for everything here. 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

  1. Genesis 39:1 traders Literally, “Ishmaelites.”

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)

The Lord was with Joseph(D) so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him(E) and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,(F) 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) 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) 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) and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”(O)

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) 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)