B'resheet (Gen) 39
39
1(v) Yosef was brought down to Egypt, and Potifar, an officer of Pharaoh’s and captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Yishma‘elim who had brought him there. 2Adonai was with Yosef, and he became wealthy while he was in the household of his master the Egyptian. 3His master saw how Adonai was with him, that Adonai prospered everything he did. 4Yosef pleased him as he served him, and his master appointed him manager of his household; he entrusted all his possessions to Yosef. 5From the time he appointed him manager of his household and all his possessions, Adonai blessed the Egyptian’s household for Yosef’s sake; Adonai’s blessing was on all he owned, whether in the house or in the field. 6So he left all his possessions in Yosef’s care; and because he had him, he paid no attention to his affairs, except for the food he ate.
Now Yosef was well-built and handsome as well. (vi) 7In time, the day came when his master’s wife took a look at Yosef and said, “Sleep with me!” 8But he refused, saying to his master’s wife, “Look, because my master has me, he doesn’t know what’s going on in this house. He has put all his possessions in my charge. 9In this house I am his equal; he hasn’t withheld anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10But she kept pressing him, day after day. Nevertheless, he didn’t listen to her; he refused to sleep with her or even be with her.
11However, one day, when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men living in the house was there indoors, 12she grabbed him by his robe and said, “Sleep with me!” But he fled, leaving his robe in her hand, and got himself outside. 13When she saw that he had left his robe in her hand and had escaped, 14she called the men of her house and said to them, “Look at this! My husband brought in a Hebrew to make fools of us. He came in and wanted to sleep with me, but I yelled out loudly. 15When he heard me yelling like that, he left his robe with me and ran out.” 16She put the robe aside until his master came home. 17Then she said to him, “This Hebrew slave you brought us came in to make a fool of me. 18But when I yelled out, he left his robe with me and fled outside.” 19When his master heard what his wife said as she showed him, “Here’s what your slave did to me,” he became furious. 20Yosef’s master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king’s prisoners were kept; and there he was in the prison.
21But Adonai was with Yosef, showing him grace and giving him favor in the sight of the prison warden. 22The prison warden made Yosef supervisor of all the prisoners in the prison; so that whatever they did there, he was in charge of it. 23The prison warden paid no attention to anything Yosef did, because Adonai was with him; and whatever he did, Adonai prospered.
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39
1After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
2-6a As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master recognized that God was with him, saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God blessed the home of the Egyptian—all because of Joseph. The blessing of God spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.
6b-7 Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”
8-9He wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he’s put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?”
10She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.
11-15On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside, she called to her house servants: “Look—this Hebrew shows up and before you know it he’s trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me but I yelled as loud as I could. With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside.”
16-18She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, “The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside.”
19-23When his master heard his wife’s story, telling him, “These are the things your slave did to me,” he was furious. Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were locked up. But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer. The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.