Genesis 39  Contemporary English Version

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

39 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king's^[a] official in charge of the palace guard. ^2-3 (A) So Joseph lived in the home of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner.

Soon Potiphar realized that the Lord was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did. ⁴ Potiphar liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his house and all of his property. ⁵ Because of Joseph, the Lord began to bless Potiphar's family and fields. ⁶ Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and with Joseph there, the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat.

Joseph was well-built and handsome, ^7 (B) and Potiphar's wife soon noticed him. She asked him to make love to her, ⁸ but he refused and said, “My master isn't worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns. ⁹ No one in my master's house is more important than I am. The only thing he hasn't given me is you, and that's because you are his wife. I won't sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this.” ¹⁰ She kept begging Joseph day after day, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her.

¹¹ One day, Joseph went to Potiphar's house to do his work, and none of the other servants were there. ¹² Potiphar's wife grabbed hold of his coat and said, “Make love to me!” Joseph ran out of the house, leaving his coat there in her hands.

¹³ When this happened, ¹⁴ she called in her servants and said, “Look! This Hebrew has come just to make fools of us. He tried to rape me, but I screamed for help. ¹⁵ And when he heard me scream, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat with me.”

¹⁶ Potiphar's wife kept Joseph's coat until her husband came home. ¹⁷ Then she said, “That Hebrew slave of yours tried to rape me! ¹⁸ But when I screamed for help, he left his coat and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ Potiphar became very angry ²⁰ and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept.

While Joseph was in prison, ^21 (C) the Lord helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that ²² he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. ²³ The jailer did not worry about anything, because the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.