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 a Slave in Egypt

1Now Joseph had been taken #Gen. 12:10; 43:15down to Egypt. And #Gen. 37:36; Ps. 105:17Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, #Gen. 37:28; 45:4bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. 2#Gen. 26:24, 28; 28:15; 35:3; 39:3, 21, 23; 1 Sam. 16:18; 18:14, 28; Acts 7:9The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord #Ps. 1:3made all he did to prosper in his hand. 4So Joseph #Gen. 18:3; 19:19; 39:21found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him #Gen. 24:2, 10; 39:8, 22; 41:40overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that #Gen. 18:26; 30:27; 2 Sam. 6:11the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. 6Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.

Now Joseph #Gen. 29:17; 1 Sam. 16:12was handsome in form and appearance.

7And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, #2 Sam. 13:11“Lie with me.”

8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. #Lev. 20:10; Prov. 6:29, 32How then can I do this great wickedness, and #Gen. 20:6; 42:18; 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 51:4sin against God?”

10So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he #Prov. 1:10did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

11But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12that she #Prov. 7:13caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a #Gen. 14:13; 41:12Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

16So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17Then she #Ex. 23:1; Ps. 120:3; Prov. 26:28spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

19So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his #Prov. 6:34, 35anger was aroused. 20Then Joseph’s master took him and #Ps. 105:18; (1 Pet. 2:19)put him into the #Gen. 40:3, 15; 41:14prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. 21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He #Gen. 39:2; Ex. 3:21; Ps. 105:19; (Prov. 16:7); Dan. 1:9; Acts 7:9, 10gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22And the keeper of the prison #Gen. 39:4; 40:3, 4committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the #Gen. 39:2, 3Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

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