Genesis 39
39
1And Joseph was brought into Egypt; and Putiphar an eunuch of Pharao, chief captain of the army, an Egyptian, bought him of the Ismaelites, by whom he was brought.
2And the Lord was with him, and he was a prosperous man in all things: and he dwelt in his master's house,
3Who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4And Joseph found favour in the sight of his master, and ministered to him: and being set over all by him, he governed the house committed to him, and all things that were delivered to him:
5And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake: and multiplied all his substance, both at home, and in the fields.
6Neither knew he any other thing, but the bread which he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful countenance, and comely to behold.
7And after many days his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and said: Lie with me.
8But he, in no wise consenting to that wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house.
9Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife: How then can I do this wicked thing, and sin against my God?
10With such words as these, day by day, both the woman was importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.
11Now it happened on it certain day, that Joseph went into the house, and was doing some business without any man with him:
12And she catching the skirt of his garment, said: Lie with me. But he leaving the garment in her hand fled, and went out.
13And when the woman saw the garment in her hands, and herself disregarded,
14She called to her the men of her house, and said to them: See, he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us. He came in to me, to lie with me: and when I cried out,
15And he heard my voice, he left the garment that I held, and got him out.
16For a proof therefore of her fidelity, she kept the garment, and shewed it to her husband when he returned home:
17And said: The Hebrew servant, whom thou last brought, came to me to abuse me.
18And when he heard me cry, he left the garment which I held, and fled out.
19His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit to his wife's words, was very angry:
20And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king's prisoners were kept. And he was there shut up.
21But the Lord was with Joseph, and having mercy upon him gave him favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison:
22Who delivered into his hand all the prisoners that were kept in custody: and whatsoever was done was under him.
23Neither did he himself know any thing, having committed all things to him: for the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper.
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.