DaySpring Hope & Encouragement Bible - Flipbook - Page 73
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G enesis 39
you break out first?” So he was named Perez.* 30 Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.*
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was
purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of
the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he
served in the home of his Egyptian master. 3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.
4 This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He
put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. 5 From
the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the
Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. 6 So Pot
iphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything
he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a t hing—except what
kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s
wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she
demanded.
8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with every
thing in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do.
He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.
How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to
sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day,
however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came
and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph
tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called
out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My
husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came
into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he
ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”
16 She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. 17 Then she
told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried
to come in and fool around with me,” she said. 18 “But when I screamed, he
ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”
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Joseph Put in Prison
Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had
treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the
king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the Lord was with
Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made
Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. 22 Before long, the warden put Jo
seph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened
in the prison. 23 The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of
everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.
19
38:29 Perez means “breaking out.” 38:30 Zerah means “scarlet” or “brightness.”
