Potiphar’s Wife Tries to Seduce Joseph

39:1-23

39 Now as you know, some Ishmaelite traders had taken Joseph down to the country of Egypt, and an Egyptian named Potiphar had bought him as a servant from them. Potiphar was one of King Pharaoh’s officers, the captain over the king’s personal guards. 2 As Joseph worked in his Egyptian owner’s house, Yahweh was with him and helped him, so that he succeeded in everything he did. 3 His owner realized that Yahweh was with him and was helping him to succeed in everything that he did. 4 So Potiphar was pleased with Joseph and made him his personal servant. He also put him in charge of managing his household and taking care of everything else that he owned. 5 From the time that Joseph’s Egyptian owner did that, Yahweh blessed the household of that Egyptian man for Joseph’s sake. He blessed everything that belonged to him, including everything in his home and in his fields. 6 In fact, after Joseph’s owner put him in charge of everything that he owned, he did not need to concern himself with anything in his household except for personal matters like deciding what kind of food he wanted to eat.

Joseph was well-built and good-looking. 7 So after a while, his owner’s wife started looking at him with desire and told him, “Come to bed with me!” 8 But Joseph refused and said to her, “Listen, because of me, my owner does not have to concern himself with anything that is in his house. In fact, he has put me in charge of everything that he owns, 9 so that he has no one in his household who has more authority than I do. He has given me freedom with everything in his household, except you, of course, because you are his wife. So there is no way I would ever sin against God by doing such an evil thing!” 10 Day after day Potiphar’s wife kept pressuring Joseph to go to bed with her, but he refused her requests and stayed away from her.

11 Then one day Joseph went to his owner’s house as usual to do his work, but no other menservants from the household were there. 12 So Potiphar’s wife saw her chance and grabbed hold of Joseph by his robe and demanded, “Come to bed with me!” But immediately he fled and left his robe in her hands as he ran outdoors. 13 As soon as she saw that Joseph had run outdoors and left his robe behind in her hands, 14 she summoned the other menservants from her household. Then when they arrived, she exclaimed to them, “Look, my husband brought this Hebrew servant here among us to make fools of us! He came here to rape me, but I screamed loudly for help! 15 Then as soon as he heard me scream like that, he left his robe with me and ran outdoors!”

16 So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s robe with her until her husband, Joseph’s owner, returned home. 17 Then she told him the same story. She said, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came here to make a fool of me! 18 But as soon as I screamed loudly, he left his robe with me and ran outdoors!” 19 When Joseph’s owner heard what his wife said his servant had done to her, he became very angry. 20 So he had soldiers arrest Joseph and put him in the prison where they kept people who had committed crimes against the king.

Joseph remained there in prison, 21 but Yahweh was with him and was kind to him and caused the prison warden to be pleased with him, so that he treated him well. 22 So before long the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners who were in that prison, so that he was the one who managed everything that they did there. 23 The warden did not need to pay attention to anything at all that Joseph was in charge of, because Yahweh was with Joseph and enabled him to succeed at everything he did.