Genesis 39

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites ^owho had brought him there. ²The Lord was with Joseph, ^pand he became a successful man, serving ^qin the household of his Egyptian master. ³When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, ^r4Joseph found favor in his master’s sight ^sand became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. ^t5From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. ^uThe Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. ⁶He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority; ^vhe did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. ^w7After some time ^xhis master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

⁸But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. ^y9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” ^z

¹⁰Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused ^ato go to bed with her. ^b11Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. ^c12She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. ¹³When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, ¹⁴she called the household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵When he heard me screaming for help, ^dhe left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁶She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, ¹⁸but when I screamed for help, ^ehe left his garment with me and ran outside.”

¹⁹When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious ²⁰and had him thrown into prison, ^fwhere the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

Joseph in Prison

²¹But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. ^gHe granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. ^h22The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, ⁱand he was responsible for everything that was done there. ²³The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, ^jbecause the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful. ^k