Genesis 39

¹Therfor Joseph was led in to Egipt, and Putifar, `chast and onest seruaunt of Farao, prince of the oost, a man of Egipt, bouyte hym of the hondis of Ismaelitis, of which he was brouyt.

²And the Lord was with hym, and he was a man doynge with prosperite in alle thingis. And Joseph dwellide in `the hows of his lord,

³which knew best that the Lord was with Joseph, and that alle thingis whiche he dide, weren dressid of the Lord in `the hond of hym.

⁴And Joseph foond grace bifor his lord, and `mynystride to hym, of whom Joseph was maad souereyn of alle thingis, and gouernede the hows bitaken to hym, and alle thingis that weren bitakun to hym.

⁵And the Lord blesside the `hows of Egipcian for Joseph, and multipliede al his catel, as wel in howsis as in feeldis;

⁶nether he knew ony other thing no but `breed which he eet. Forsothe Joseph was fair in face, and schapli in siyt.

⁷And so aftir many daies the ladi castide hir iyen in to Joseph, and seide, Slepe thou with me;

⁸which assentide not to the vnleueful werk, and seide to hir, Lo! while alle thingis ben bitakun to me, my lord woot not what he hath in his hows,

⁹nether ony thing is, which is not in my power, ether which `he hath not bitake to me, outakun thee, which art his wijf; how therfor may Y do this yuel, and do synne ayens my lord?

¹⁰Thei spaken siche wordis `bi alle daies, and the womman was diseseful to the yong waxynge man, and he forsook auoutrie.

¹¹Forsothe it bifelde in a dai, that Joseph entride in to the hows, and dide sum werk with out witnessis.

¹²And sche took `the hem of his clooth, and sche seide, Slepe thou with me; and he lefte the mentil in hir hoond, and he fledde, and yede out.

¹³And whanne the womman hadde seyn the clooth in hir hondis, and that sche was dispisid,

¹⁴sche clepide to hir the men of hir hows, and seide to hem, Lo! my lord hath brouyt in an Ebrew man, that he schulde scorn vs; he entride to me to do leccherie with me, and whanne Y criede, and he herde my vois,

¹⁵he lefte the mentil which Y helde, and he fledde out.

¹⁶Therfor in to the preuyng of trouthe, sche schewide the mantil, holdun to the hosebonde turnynge ayen hoom.

¹⁷And she seide, The Ebrew seruaunt, whom thou brouytist, entride to me to scorne me; and whanne he siy me crye,

¹⁸he lefte the mentil which Y helde, and he fledde out.

¹⁹And whanne these thingis weren herd, the lord bileuyde ouer myche to the wordis of the wijf, and was ful wrooth;

²⁰and he bitook Joseph in to prisoun, where the bounden men of the kyng weren kept, and he was closid there.

²¹Forsothe the Lord was with Joseph, and hadde mercy on hym, and yaf grace to hym in the siyt of the prince of the prisoun,

²²which bitook in the hond of Joseph alle prisoneris that weren holdun in kepyng, and what euer thing was doon, it was vndur Joseph, nethir the prince knewe ony thing,

²³for alle thingis weren bitakun to Joseph; for the Lord was with hym, and dresside alle his werkis.

Genesis 39

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.

⁷And 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:

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.

²¹But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

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.