Genesis 39
Joseph
had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh''s Egyptian officials
and
captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
The Lord
was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his
Egyptian
master. Joseph''s
master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did
successful. Potiphar
liked Joseph so much that he made him his trusted servant. He put him in charge
of his household and everything he owned. From that time on the Lord blessed the
Egyptian''s household because of Joseph. Therefore, the Lord''s blessing was on
everything Potiphar owned in his house and in his fields. So he left all
that he owned in Joseph''s care. He wasn''t concerned about anything except the
food he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.
After a while his master''s wife began to
desire Joseph, so she said, "Come to bed with me." But Joseph
refused and said to her, "My master doesn''t concern himself with anything
in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. No one in this house is greater than I.
He''s kept nothing back from me except you, because you''re his wife. How could I
do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Although she kept asking Joseph day after
day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her. One day he went into the house to do his
work, and none of the household servants were there. She grabbed him by his
clothes and said,
"Come to bed with me!" But he ran outside and left his clothes in her
hand.
When she realized that he had gone but
had left his clothes behind, she called her household servants and
said to them, "Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around
with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I
could. As
soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me." She
kept Joseph''s clothes with her until his master came home. Then she told
him the same story: "The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried
to fool around with me. But
when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me."
When Potiphar heard his wife''s story,
especially when she said, "This is what your slave did to me," he
became very angry. So
Joseph''s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king''s
prisoners were kept. While Joseph was in prison, the Lord was with him. The Lord reached
out to him with his unchanging love and gave him protection. The Lord also put
Joseph on good terms with the warden. So the warden placed Joseph in charge of
all the prisoners who were in that prison. Joseph became responsible for
everything that they were doing. The warden paid no attention to anything
under Joseph''s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made whatever he did
successful.