Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar
1Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar had bought him from the Ishmaelite traders who had taken him there. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh’s officials. He was the captain of the palace guard.
2The Lord was with Joseph. He gave him great success. Joseph lived in Potiphar’s house. 3Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him. He saw that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. 4So Potiphar was pleased with Joseph and made him his attendant. He put Joseph in charge of his house. He trusted Joseph to take care of everything he owned. 5From that time on, the Lord blessed Potiphar’s family and servants because of Joseph. He blessed everything Potiphar had in his house and field. 6So Joseph took good care of everything Potiphar owned. With Joseph in charge, Potiphar didn’t have to worry about anything except the food he ate.
Joseph was strong and handsome. 7After a while, his master’s wife noticed Joseph. She said to him, “Come to bed with me!”
8But he refused. “My master has put me in charge,” he told her. “Now he doesn’t have to worry about anything in the house. He trusts me to take care of everything he owns. 9No one in this house is in a higher position than I am. My master hasn’t held anything back from me, except you. You are his wife. So how could I do an evil thing like that? How could I sin against God?” 10She spoke to Joseph day after day. But he told her he wouldn’t go to bed with her. He didn’t even want to be with her.
11One day Joseph went into the house to take care of his duties. None of the family servants was inside. 12Potiphar’s wife grabbed him by his coat. “Come to bed with me!” she said. But he left his coat in her hand. And he ran out of the house.
13She saw that he had left his coat in her hand and had run out of the house. 14So she called her servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew slave has been brought here to make fun of us! He came in here to force me to have sex with him. But I screamed for help. 15He heard my scream. So he left his coat beside me and ran out of the house.”
16She kept Joseph’s coat with her until Potiphar came home. 17Then she told him her story. She said, “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to rape me. 18But I screamed for help. So he left his coat beside me and ran out of the house.”
19Potiphar’s wife told him, “That’s how your slave treated me.” When Joseph’s master heard her story, he became very angry. 20So he put Joseph in prison. It was the place where the king’s prisoners were kept.
While Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him. He was kind to him. So the man running the prison was pleased with Joseph. 22He put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. He made him responsible for everything done there. 23The man who ran the prison didn’t pay attention to anything in Joseph’s care. That’s because the Lord was with Joseph. He gave Joseph success in everything he did.
José e a mulher de Potifar
1Quando José chegou ao Egito, cativo dos negociantes ismaelitas, foi comprado por Potifar membro da corte do Faraó. Potifar era chefe da casa militar do rei e responsável pelo palácio real.
2O Senhor estava com José, na casa do seu senhor, de tal forma que tudo o que fazia resultava bem. 3O próprio Potifar reparou nisso e deu-se conta de que o Senhor estava com José de uma forma especial. 4José tornou-se o seu favorito e depressa ficou com a responsabilidade da administração da casa de Potifar e dos seus negócios pessoais. 5Logo o Senhor começou a abençoar o próprio Potifar por causa de José. Todos os seus assuntos corriam bem e floresciam as propriedades no campo, assim como os rebanhos que tinha; 6de tal maneira que Potifar acabou por deixar sobre José a responsabilidade de tudo o que era seu. Não se preocupava fosse com o que fosse a não ser com o que queria comer cada dia.
7José era um belo moço com uma apresentação muito agradável. Por esse tempo a mulher de Potifar começou a reparar nele e acabou por convidá-lo a dormir consigo. 8Ele recusou: “O meu patrão confia-me tudo o que tem. 9Ele próprio não tem mais autoridade do que eu aqui em casa! Não me privou de coisa nenhuma a não ser de ti, porque és a sua mulher. Como é que eu ia fazer uma coisa assim tão grave? Seria um grande pecado contra Deus!” 10Ela continuava a convidá-lo todos os dias, apesar de ele sempre recusar.
11Um dia, estava José em casa cumprindo os serviços habituais e ninguém mais se encontrava ali. 12Então ela veio e puxou-o pela camisa, incitando-o a ir com ela. Mas ele preferiu deixar-lhe a camisa nas mãos e afastar-se rapidamente para fora de casa. 13Quando viu que lhe tinha ficado com a camisa, 14começou a gritar, de tal forma que as pessoas dali perto, à volta da casa, acorreram. “O meu marido trouxe para casa este escravo hebreu para nos ofender!”, exclamava. “Tentou violentar-me e, quando comecei a gritar, 15fugiu; mas deixou aqui a camisa.”
16E pôs a roupa perto dela. Quando o marido chegou 17contou-lhe a sua história: “Esse escravo hebreu que trouxeste cá para casa veio ter comigo e tentou violentar-me. 18Salvei-me porque comecei a gritar com toda a força. Ele fugiu, mas deixou aqui a camisa.”
19Ao ouvir aquilo o marido ficou furioso. 20Pôs José na prisão, onde se encontravam outros presos do rei. 21Contudo, também ali o Senhor continuava ao lado de José, beneficiando-o com a sua bondade; e fez com que caísse na simpatia do chefe carcereiro. 22Por isso, este último depressa lhe confiou toda a responsabilidade da administração da prisão, e até todos os outros prisioneiros estavam ao seu cuidado. 23O carcereiro não se ocupava de mais nada, porque José tomava conta de tudo, e como o Senhor estava com ele tudo lhe corria bem.
