Genesis 39

Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar

1Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar had bought him from the Ishmaelite traders who had taken him there. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh’s officials. He was the captain of the palace guard.

2The Lord was with Joseph. He gave him great success. Joseph lived in Potiphar’s house. 3Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him. He saw that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. 4So Potiphar was pleased with Joseph and made him his attendant. He put Joseph in charge of his house. He trusted Joseph to take care of everything he owned. 5From that time on, the Lord blessed Potiphar’s family and servants because of Joseph. He blessed everything Potiphar had in his house and field. 6So Joseph took good care of everything Potiphar owned. With Joseph in charge, Potiphar didn’t have to worry about anything except the food he ate.

Joseph was strong and handsome. 7After a while, his master’s wife noticed Joseph. She said to him, “Come to bed with me!”

8But he refused. “My master has put me in charge,” he told her. “Now he doesn’t have to worry about anything in the house. He trusts me to take care of everything he owns. 9No one in this house is in a higher position than I am. My master hasn’t held anything back from me, except you. You are his wife. So how could I do an evil thing like that? How could I sin against God?” 10She spoke to Joseph day after day. But he told her he wouldn’t go to bed with her. He didn’t even want to be with her.

11One day Joseph went into the house to take care of his duties. None of the family servants was inside. 12Potiphar’s wife grabbed him by his coat. “Come to bed with me!” she said. But he left his coat in her hand. And he ran out of the house.

13She saw that he had left his coat in her hand and had run out of the house. 14So she called her servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew slave has been brought here to make fun of us! He came in here to force me to have sex with him. But I screamed for help. 15He heard my scream. So he left his coat beside me and ran out of the house.”

16She kept Joseph’s coat with her until Potiphar came home. 17Then she told him her story. She said, “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to rape me. 18But I screamed for help. So he left his coat beside me and ran out of the house.”

19Potiphar’s wife told him, “That’s how your slave treated me.” When Joseph’s master heard her story, he became very angry. 20So he put Joseph in prison. It was the place where the king’s prisoners were kept.

While Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him. He was kind to him. So the man running the prison was pleased with Joseph. 22He put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. He made him responsible for everything done there. 23The man who ran the prison didn’t pay attention to anything in Joseph’s care. That’s because the Lord was with Joseph. He gave Joseph success in everything he did.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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Genesis 39

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

1Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites # Gn 37:25,28,36; Ps 105:17 who had brought him there. 2The Lord was with Joseph, # Gn 39:3,21,23; Ac 7:9 and he became a successful man, serving # Lit and he was in the household of his Egyptian master. 3When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, # Ps 1:3 4Joseph found favor in his master’s sight # Gn 18:3; 19:19; 33:10 and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. # Lit owned in his hand 5From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. # Gn 30:27 The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. 6He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority; # Lit owned in Joseph’s hand he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. # Gn 29:17; 1Sm 16:12 7After some time # Lit And after these things his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

8But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. # Lit owns in my hand 9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God? ” # Gn 20:6; 42:18; 2Sm 12:13; Ps 51:4; Pr 6:29

10Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused # Lit did not listen to her to go to bed with her.# Lit refused to lie beside her, to be with her 11Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. # Lit there in the house 12She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me! ” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14she called the household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15When he heard me screaming for help, # Lit me raise my voice and scream he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

16She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. 17Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, 18but when I screamed for help, # Lit I raised my voice and screamed he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

19When his master heard the story his wife told him — “These are the things your slave did to me” — he was furious 20and had him thrown into prison, # Gn 40:3; Ps 105:18 where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

Joseph in Prison

21But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. # Gn 39:2; Ps 105:19; Ac 7:9 He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. # Ex 3:21; 11:3; 12:36 22The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, # Lit prison in the hand of Joseph and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, # Lit anything in his hand because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful. # Gn 39:2-3

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