39
Joseph's Success in Egypt
1Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar,
an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him
from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. 2The
LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the
house of his master, the Egyptian. 3Now his master saw that
the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to
prosper in his hand. 4So Joseph found favor in his sight and
became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house,
and all that he owned he put in his charge. 5It came about
that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that
he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph;
thus the LORD'S blessing was upon all that he
owned, in the house and in the field. 6So he left everything
he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not
concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7It came
about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at
Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." 8But he refused and
said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does
not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that
he owns in my charge. 9"There is no one greater in this
house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because
you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against
God?" 10As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not
listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11Now
it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none
of the men of the household was there inside. 12She caught
him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in
her hand and fled, and went outside. 13When she saw that he
had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14she
called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has
brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie
with me, and I screamed. 15"When he heard that I raised my
voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went
outside." 16So she left his garment beside her until his
master came home. 17Then she spoke to him with these words,
"The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport
of me; 18and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his
garment beside me and fled outside."
Joseph Imprisoned
19Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which
she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger
burned. 20So Joseph's master took him and put him into the
jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was
there in the jail. 21But the LORD was with Joseph and
extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief
jailer. 22The chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all
the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he
was responsible for it. 23The chief jailer did not
supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the LORD was with him;
and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
40
Joseph Interprets a Dream
1Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and
the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
2Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief
cupbearer and the chief baker. 3So he put them in
confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail,
the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. 4The
captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care
of them; and they were in confinement for some time. 5Then
the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in
jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own
dream and each dream with its own interpretation. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold,
they were dejected. 7He asked Pharaoh's officials who were
with him in confinement in his master's house, "Why are your faces so
sad today?" 8Then they said to him, "We have had a dream and
there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not
interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."
9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and
said to him, "In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of
me; 10and on the vine were three branches. And as it
was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced
ripe grapes. 11"Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; so I took
the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I put the cup into
Pharaoh's hand." 12Then Joseph said to him, "This is the
interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to
your office; and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand according to
your former custom when you were his cupbearer. 14"Only keep
me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by
mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. 15"For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here
I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon."
16When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted
favorably, he said to Joseph, "I also saw in my dream, and
behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;
17and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of
baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket
on my head." 18Then Joseph answered and said, "This is its
interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19within
three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang
you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you."
20Thus it came about on the third day, which was
Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he
lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief
baker among his servants. 21He restored the chief cupbearer
to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh's hand; 22but
he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot
him.
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