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 [^LPharaoh] and the chief butcher [37:36]. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph [^Cindicating a covenant relationship], and he ·became a successful man [prospered]. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.

³ Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord made Joseph ·successful [prosperous] in everything he did. ⁴ So ·Potiphar was very happy with Joseph [^LJoseph found grace/favor in his eyes] and allowed him to ·be his personal servant [attend him]. He put Joseph in charge of the house, trusting him with everything he owned. ⁵ When Joseph was put in charge of the house and everything Potiphar owned, the Lord blessed the ·people in Potiphar’s [^Lthe Egyptian’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 left Joseph in charge of everything he owned and was not concerned about anything except the food he ate.

Joseph Is Put into Prison

Now Joseph was ·well built [^Lpleasing in figure/form] and ·handsome [^Lpleasing in appearance]. ⁷ After ·some time [^Lthese things] the wife of Joseph’s master ·began to desire [cast her eyes on; ^Llifted her eyes to] Joseph, and one day she said to him, “·Have sexual relations [^LLie] with me.”

⁸ But Joseph refused and said to ·her [^Lhis master’s wife], “My master ·trusts me with [^Lhas no concern with me about] 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, because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God [Ex. 20:14; Prov. 5–7].”

¹⁰ The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he ·refused [^Ldid not listen to/obey her] to ·have sexual relations with [^Llie beside] her or even spend time with her.

¹¹ One day Joseph went into the house to do his work as usual and was the only man in the house at that time. ¹² His master’s wife grabbed his coat and said to him, “Come and ·have sexual relations [^Llie] with me.” But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran ·out of the house [^Loutside].

¹³ When she saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hands and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the ·servants in [^Lthe men of] her house and said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to ·shame [insult; sport with] us. He came in and tried to ·have sexual relations [^Llie] with me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ ·My scream scared him and [^LWhen he heard me raise my voice and call out] he ran away, but he left his coat with me.” ¹⁶ She kept his coat until her ·husband [master] came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here came in to ·shame [insult; make sport of] me! ¹⁸ When he came near me, I ·screamed [^Lraised my voice]. He ·ran away [fled], 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 the ·prison [^Lround house] where the king’s prisoners were ·put [^Lconfined]. And Joseph stayed there in the ·prison [^Lround house].

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him ·kindness [loyalty; love] and ·caused the prison warden to like Joseph [^Lgave him favor in the eyes of the chief jailer]. ²² The ·prison warden [chief jailer] chose Joseph to take care of all the prisoners, and he was responsible for whatever was done in the prison [39:20]. ²³ The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made him ·successful [prosper] in everything he did.