Genesis 39
39
Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar in Egypt
1The traders#39:1 traders Literally, “Ishmaelites.” who bought Joseph took him down to Egypt. They sold him to the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, Potiphar. 2The Lord helped Joseph become a successful man. Joseph lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord helped Joseph be successful in everything he did. 4So 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. 5After 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. 6So 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. 7After some time, the wife of Joseph’s master began to pay special attention to him. One day she said to him, “Sleep with me.”
8But Joseph refused. He said, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has given me responsibility for everything here. 9My 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.”
10The woman talked with Joseph every day, but he refused to sleep with her. 11One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. He was the only man in the house at the time. 12His 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.
13The woman saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hand and had run out of the house. 14She 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. 15My scream scared him and he ran away, but he left his coat with me.” 16Then she kept his coat until her husband, Joseph’s master, came home. 17She told her husband the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here tried to attack me! 18But when he came near me, I screamed. He ran away, but he left his coat.”
19Joseph’s master listened to what his wife said, and he became very angry. 20So Potiphar put Joseph into the prison where the king’s enemies were held, and that is where Joseph remained.
Joseph in Prison
21The Lord was with Joseph and continued to show his kindness to him, so the commander of the prison guards began to like Joseph. 22The 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. 23The 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.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 39
39
Joseph’s rise and betrayal
1When Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chief officer, the commander of the royal guard and an Egyptian, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man and served in his Egyptian master’s household. 3His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made everything he did successful. 4Potiphar thought highly of Joseph, and Joseph became his assistant; he appointed Joseph head of his household and put everything he had under Joseph’s supervision. 5From the time he appointed Joseph head of his household and of everything he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. The LORD blessed everything he had, both in the household and in the field. 6So he handed over everything he had to Joseph and didn’t pay attention to anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.
7Some time later, his master’s wife became attracted to Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
8He refused and said to his master’s wife, “With me here, my master doesn’t pay attention to anything in his household; he’s put everything he has under my supervision. 9No one is greater than I am in this household, and he hasn’t denied me anything except you, since you are his wife. How could I do this terrible thing and sin against God?” 10Every single day she tried to convince him, but he wouldn’t agree to sleep with her or even to be with her.
11One day when Joseph arrived at the house to do his work, none of the household’s men were there. 12She grabbed his garment, saying, “Lie down with me.” But he left his garment in her hands and ran outside. 13When she realized that he had left his garment in her hands and run outside, 14she summoned the men of her house and said to them, “Look, my husband brought us a Hebrew to ridicule us. He came to me to lie down with me, but I screamed. 15When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment with me and ran outside.” 16She kept his garment with her until Joseph’s master came home, 17and she told him the same thing: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us, to ridicule me, came to me; 18but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment with me and ran outside.”
19When Joseph’s master heard the thing that his wife told him, “This is what your servant did to me,” he was incensed. 20Joseph’s master took him and threw him in jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were held. While he was in jail, 21the LORD was with Joseph and remained loyal to him. He caused the jail’s commander to think highly of Joseph. 22The jail’s commander put all of the prisoners in the jail under Joseph’s supervision, and he was the one who determined everything that happened there. 23The jail’s commander paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s supervision, because the LORD was with him and made everything he did successful.
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.