Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar was an officer to the king of Egypt. He was the captain of the palace guard. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3 Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. 4 So Potiphar was very happy with Joseph. He allowed Joseph to be his personal servant. He put Joseph in charge of the house. Joseph was trusted with everything Potiphar owned. 5 So Joseph was put in charge of the house. He was put in charge of everything Potiphar owned. Then the Lord blessed the people in Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. And the Lord blessed everything that belonged to Potiphar, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything he owned. Potiphar was not concerned about anything, except the food he ate.
Joseph Is Put into Prison
Now Joseph was well built and handsome. 7 After some time the wife of Joseph’s master began to desire Joseph. One day she said to him, “Have physical relations with me.”
8 But Joseph refused. He said to her, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has put me in charge of everything he owns. 9 There is no one in his house greater than I. He has not kept anything from me, except you. And that is because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God.”
10 The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he refused to have physical relations with her or even spend time with her.
11 One day Joseph went into the house to do his work as usual. He was the only man in the house at that time. 12 His master’s wife grabbed his coat. She said to him, “Come and have physical relations with me.” But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house.
13 She saw what Joseph had done. He had left his coat in her hands and had run outside. 14 So she called to the servants in her house. She said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to shame us. He came in and tried to have physical relations with me. But I screamed. 15 My scream scared him, and he ran away. But he left his coat with me.” 16 She kept his coat until her husband came home. 17 And she told her husband the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here came in to shame me! 18 When he came near me, I screamed. He ran away, but he left his coat.”
19 When Joseph’s master heard what his wife said Joseph had done, he became very angry. 20 So Potiphar arrested Joseph and put him into prison. This prison was where the king’s prisoners were put. And Joseph stayed there in the prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. The Lord caused the prison warden to like Joseph. 22 The prison warden chose Joseph to take care of all the prisoners. He was responsible for whatever was done in the prison. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care. This was because the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did.