Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 66
60
Genesis 39
PG 56
DIRECT
PG 58
SCENIC
39:1-23
39:1–40:23
22
32
JOSEPH IN EGYPT
Overnight, Joseph’s life changes. One day he’s a son, the next a slave. The Ishmaelite traders bring Joseph to Egypt and sell him to a high-ranking Egyptian
officer named Potiphar. Working for him, Joseph exceeds expectations. Potiphar finds Joseph to be exceptionally dependable and assigns him to oversee
the entire household. But despite Joseph’s faithfulness, a new accusation will
change his life again.
first.” 29 But then he pulled back his hand, and
out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did 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
39
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 every
thing he owned. 5 From the day Joseph was
put in charge of his master’s household and
property, the Lord began to bless Potip
har’s
household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and
livestock flourished. 6 So Potiphar gave Joseph
complete administrative responsibility over
everything he owned. With Joseph there, he
didn’t worry about a thing—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 everything 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!”
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 Joseph in charge of all the
other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. 23 The warden had no more
19
38:29 Perez means “breaking out.” 38:30 Zerah means “scarlet”
or “brightness.”
