Berĕshith (Genesis) 39
39
1And Yosĕph had been taken down to Mitsrayim. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, a Mitsrian, bought him from the Yishma‛ĕlites who had taken him down there.
2And it came to be that יהוה was with Yosĕph, and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his master the Mitsrian.
3And his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה made all he did to prosper in his hand.
4So Yosĕph found favour in his eyes, and served him, and he appointed him over his house, and gave into his hand all that he had.
5And it came to be, from the time that he appointed him over his house and all that he had, that יהוה blessed the Mitsrian’s house for Yosĕph’s sake. And the blessing of יהוה was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
6And he left in Yosĕph’s hand all that he had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Yosĕph was handsome in form and handsome in appearance.
7And after these events it came to be that his master’s wife lifted up her eyes to Yosĕph and said, “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 given into my hand all that he has.
9No one is greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld whatever from me but you, because you are his wife. And how shall I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?
10And it came to be, as she spoke to Yosĕph day by day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to be with her.
11And it came to be on a certain day, when Yosĕph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,
12that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
13And it came to be, 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 Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
15And it came to be, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.
16And she kept his garment with her until his master came home.
17And she spoke to him these same words, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me, to mock me,
18so it came to be, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
19And it came to be, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me according to these words,” that his displeasure burned.
20Then Yosĕph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the sovereign’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
21But יהוה was with Yosĕph and extended loving-commitment to him, and He gave him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.
22And the prison warden gave into the hand of Yosĕph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there was his doing.
23The prison warden did not look into any point that was under Yosĕph’s hand, because יהוה was with him. And whatever he did, יהוה made it prosper.
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Genesis 39
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.