Genesis 39
Joseph Becomes Potiphar’s Manager
When the Ishmaelites arrived in Egypt, they sold Joseph to the Pharaoh’s chief bodyguard, Potiphar. The Existing One was with Joseph and caused him to excel. [Joseph’s name means “Jehovah has added.”] Joseph even got to live in the same house as his master. Potiphar saw the way that the Existing One was with Joseph, causing all his endeavors to succeed, so Potiphar liked him and promoted him to be the manager of his entire estate. After making Joseph his estate manager, the Existing One’s blessing affected everything Potiphar owned, including his house and his land. Potiphar felt so secure with Joseph’s management that he didn’t concern himself with anything except what he wanted to eat that day.
Potiphar’s Wife Invites Joseph to Bed
But Joseph was a good looking man and caught the eye of his master’s wife. She invited him to bed, but he refused, saying,
“My master put everything he owns under my management and doesn’t feel the need to check on any of it. He made me the highest ranking person in his house, and didn’t withhold anything from me except for you since you’re his wife. So how could I ever do something so wrong and misalign myself with God?”
As time went on, she kept inviting him to bed, but he never accepted.
Joseph Falsely Accused & Imprisoned
But then, there was one day when Joseph went inside to get some work done and no one else was around. That’s when she grabbed him by his tunic and said,
“Come to bed with me!”
When that happened, Joseph ran back outside to escape, but ended up leaving his clothes in her hand. When she realized that she had his clothes, she called the guards and said,
“Look, that Hebrew my husband brought here wants to mess with us! He tried to rape me, but I screamed, so he ran outside and left his clothes here!”
She hung on to Joseph’s clothes until Potiphar got back and then told him the story. When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, he was livid and threw Joseph into prison. But the Existing One was there with Joseph and was good to him, making it so that the prison warden liked Joseph. The warden ended up putting Joseph in charge of all the prisoners so that he was responsible for everything that happened there. The warden didn’t have to think about anything, because the Existing One was with Joseph and caused him to succeed in all his endeavors.
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