1And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
7¶ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? 10And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. 11And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. 12And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:39.14 loud: Heb. great 15And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. 16And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. 17And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: 18And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. 20And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21¶ But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.39.21 shewed…: Heb. extended kindness unto him 22And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
ዮሴፍና የጲጥፋራ ሚስት
1በዚህ ጊዜ ዮሴፍ ወደ ግብፅ ተወስዶ ነበር፤ ከፈርዖን ሹማምት አንዱ የሆነውም የዘበኞች አለቃ፣ ግብፃዊው ጲጥፋራ ወደዚያ ከወሰዱት ከእስማኤላውያን ነጋዴዎች እጅ ገዛው።
2እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከዮሴፍ ጋር ነበረ፤ ኑሮው ተቃናለት፤ እርሱም በግብፃዊው አሳዳሪው ቤት ኖረ። 3አሳዳሪውም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከእርሱ ጋር እንዳለና ሥራውንም ሁሉ እንዳከናወለት ባየ ጊዜ፣ 4ዮሴፍ በእርሱ ዘንድ ሞገስ አገኘ፤ የቅርብ አገልጋዩም ሆነ። ጲጥፋራ በቤቱ ላይ ሾመው፤ ያለውንም ሀብት ሁሉ በኀላፊነት ሰጠው። 5ዮሴፍ በጲጥፋራ ቤትና ባለው ሀብት ሁሉ ላይ ከተሾመበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) የግብፃዊውን ቤት ባረከ፤ የእግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ) በረከት በግቢም በውጭም ባለው የጲጥፋራ ሀብት ንብረት ሁሉ ላይ ሆነ። 6ስለዚህ ጲጥፋራ ባለው ሁሉ ላይ ሥልጣን ሰጠው፤ የቀረበለትንም ከመመገብ በስተቀር፣ ማናቸውንም ጕዳይ በዮሴፍ ላይ ጥሎ ነበር።
ዮሴፍ ጥሩ ቁመና ያለውና መልከ መልካም ነበር፤ 7እያደርም የጌታው ሚስት ዐይኗን ጣለችበት፤ አፍ አውጥታም፣ “አብረኸኝ ተኛ” አለችው።
8እርሱ ግን ፈቃደኛ አልሆነም፤ እንዲህም አላት፤ “ጌታዬ ያለውን ሁሉ በኀላፊነት ስለ ሰጠኝ፣ በቤቱ ውስጥ ስላለው ሁሉ ምንም የሚያውቀው ነገር የለም። 9በዚህ ቤት ላይ ከእኔ የበለጠ ኀላፊነት ያለው ማንም የለም፤ እርሱ ያልሰጠኝ ነገር ቢኖር፣ አንቺን ብቻ ነው፤ ያውም ሚስቱ ስለሆንሽ ነው፤ ታዲያ፣ እኔ ይህን ክፉ ድርጊት ፈጽሜ እንዴት በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ፊት ኀጢአት እሠራለሁ?” 10ምንም እንኳ ዮሴፍን በየቀኑ ብትጐተጕተውም፣ አልሰማትም፤ ከእርሷ ጋር መተኛት ይቅርና አብሯትም መሆን አልፈቀደም።
11አንድ ቀን ዮሴፍ የዕለት ተግባሩን ለማከናወን ወደ ቤት ገባ፤ ከቤቱ አገልጋዮችም አንድም ሰው በቤት ውስጥ አልነበረም። 12እርሷም ልብሱን ጨምድዳ ይዛ “በል አብረኸኝ ተኛ” አለችው። እርሱ ግን ልብሱን እጇ ላይ ጥሎ ሸሽቶ ከቤት ወጣ።
13እርሷም ልብሱን እጇ ላይ ጥሎ ሸሽቶ መውጣቱን ባየች ጊዜ፣ 14የቤት አገልጋዮቿን ጠራች፤ እንዲህም አለቻቸው፤ “አያችሁ፤ ለካስ ይህ ዕብራዊ የመጣው መሣለቂያ ሊያደርገን ኖሯል! እዚህ ድረስ ሰተት ብሎ ገብቶ ካልተኛሁሽ አለኝ፤ እኔም ጩኸቴን ለቀቅሁት፤ 15ለርዳታ መጮኼን ሲሰማም፣ ልብሱን ከአጠገቤ ጥሎ ሸሽቶ ከቤት ወጣ።”
16ጌታውም ወደ ቤት እስኪመለስ ድረስ፣ ልብሱን አጠገቧ አቈየችው። 17ታሪኩንም እንዲህ ስትል ነገረችው፤ “አንተ ያመጣኸው ዕብራዊ ባሪያ መሣቂያ ሊያደርገን ወዳለሁበት ሰተት ብሎ ገባ፤ 18ታዲያ እኔ ድረሱልኝ ብዬ ስጮኽ ልብሱን አጠገቤ ጥሎ ሸሽቶ ወጣ።”
19ጌታውም፣ “ባሪያህ እንዲህ አደረገኝ” ብላ ሚስቱ የነገረችውን ታሪክ ሲሰማ ተቈጣ። 20ጌታውም ዮሴፍን ወስዶ፣ የንጉሥ እስረኞች ወደ ተጋዙበት እስር ቤት አስገባው።
21ይሁን እንጂ ዮሴፍ እዚያ እስር ቤት ባለበት ጊዜ ሁሉ፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከእርሱ ጋር ነበረ፤ ቸርነቱንም አበዛለት፤ በወህኒ አዛዡም ዘንድ ሞገስን ሰጠው። 22ስለዚህ የወህኒው አዛዥ ዮሴፍን የእስረኞች ሁሉ አለቃ አደረገው፤ በእስር ቤቱ ላለውም ነገር ሁሉ ኀላፊ ሆነ። 23እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከዮሴፍ ጋር ሆኖ ሥራውን ሁሉ ያሳካለት ስለ ነበር፣ የወህኒ ቤት አዛዡ በዮሴፍ ኀላፊነት ሥር ስላለው ስለ ማንኛውም ጕዳይ ሐሳብ አይገባውም ነበር።
