Genesis 39: The LORD was with Joseph

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

¹Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. ²And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.

³When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did, ⁴Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.

Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned. ⁵From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field. ⁶So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, ⁷and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon 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 entrusted everything he owns to my care. ⁹No 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?”

¹⁰Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. ¹¹One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. ¹²She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

Joseph Falsely Imprisoned

¹³When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁶So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me, ¹⁸but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger. ²⁰So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined.

While Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. ²²And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. ²³The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.