Genesis 39

₁The Ishmaelite merchants took Joseph to Egypt. An important_official, Potiphar, bought Joseph. Potiphar was the chief of the guards who had to guard Pharaoh.

₂The Lord was with Joseph and He made good things happen to him and made him succeed in everything that he did. He lived in the house of his master in Egypt. ₃Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and he saw that the Lord helped him and that He was with Joseph in everything that he did. ₄That is why Potiphar was very friendly to Joseph and Joseph had to serve Potiphar's food to him. He made Joseph the chief of his house and everything that he had. ₅After Potiphar chose Joseph to be the manager of his house and everything he had, the Lord blessed Potiphar and his house. The Lord blessed everything in Potiphar's house and on his farms. ₆Potiphar did not worry about anything because he knew that Joseph looked after everything he had. He did not worry about anything. He thought only about the food that he wanted to eat.

₇When Joseph became the manager of the house, Potiphar's wife looked at Joseph and she started to fall in love with him. She said to Joseph: ‘Come to bed with me.’ ₈But Joseph did not want to. He told her: ‘No, my master knows that I will look after everything in his house. ₉I may use everything that he has, but I can not have sex with you because you are his wife. I can not do this. It is wrong and it is a sin_against God.’

₁₀Potiphar's wife kept on wanting him and she tried to seduce Joseph every day, but he did not listen to her and he did not have sex with her. ₁₁One day he was working in Potiphar's house as he always did. There was no one else in the house. ₁₂Potiphar's wife grabbed Joseph and held onto his clothes and said: ‘Come to bed with me.’ Joseph ran away and he went outside and he left his clothes in the house, because she was holding them in her hand. ₁₃When she saw that Joseph had left his clothes in her hand when he fled and went outside, ₁₄she called the other people who were working in the house and told them: ‘Look, your master has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fun of us. He came to me and wanted to have sex with me, but I did not and I shouted very loudly. ₁₅When he heard me shout so loudly, he left his clothes with me and fled and went outside.’

₁₆She kept Joseph's clothes in her hand until her husband came home. ₁₇Then she told him: ‘The Hebrew slave that you brought here came to me and he wanted to have sex with me. ₁₈I shouted very loudly and then he left his clothes with me and fled and went outside.’

₁₉When Potiphar's wife told him what Joseph wanted to do, Potiphar became very angry and ₂₀he put Joseph in prison. It was the prison where the king kept his prisoners and Joseph stayed in prison.

₂₁But the Lord was with Joseph and He helped him. Then the chief of the prison became friendly to Joseph. ₂₂He made Joseph the leader of all the prisoners. Joseph had to look after everything in prison and see that all was right. ₂₃The chief of the prison did not worry about anything because Joseph looked after everything and all went well. The Lord helped Joseph to succeed in everything that he did.