1Efter at Josef var bragt til Egypten af ishmaelitterne, blev han som nævnt købt af Potifar, der var chef for egypterkongens livvagt.2Herren velsignede Josef og hans arbejde i hans egyptiske herres hus. Alting lykkedes for ham.3Selv Potifar indså, at Josef var under Herrens særlige velsignelse, da alting åbenbart lykkedes for ham.4Derfor valgte Potifar hurtigt Josef som sin personlige tjener, lod ham bestyre hele sin ejendom og gav ham ansvaret for alle sine forretningsforetagender.5Straks begyndte Herren for Josefs skyld at velsigne Potifar og alt, hvad han ejede, både hans landbrug og hans husholdning.6Til sidst overlod Potifar hele ansvaret for sin ejendom til Josef og bekymrede sig ikke om noget som helst—udover den mad, han spiste. Josef var velbygget og så godt ud,7og det varede ikke længe, før hans herres kone sendte ham lange blikke. En dag sagde hun: „Kom og gå i seng med mig!”8Men Josef afviste hendes tilnærmelser. „Min herre har fuld tillid til mig og har givet mig ansvar for alt, hvad han ejer,9og samme autoritet, som han selv har,” sagde han til hende. „Jeg har adgang til alt, hvad han har—bortset fra dig, for du er hans kone. Hvordan skulle jeg da kunne gøre noget så usselt? Det ville være en stor synd mod Gud!”10Dag efter dag blev hun ved med at friste ham, men han nægtede at gå i seng med hende og i det hele taget at have noget med hende at gøre.11Men en dag, da han som sædvanlig kom ind i huset for at arbejde, og der ingen andre tjenestefolk var i nærheden,12greb hun fat i hans kjortel. „Kom og lig med mig!” beordrede hun. Men Josef rev sig løs og flygtede ud af huset, og hun stod tilbage med hans kjortel i hånden.13Da hun så, at hun havde hans kjortel, fik hun en idé:14-15Hun begyndte at skrige! Og tjenestefolkene kom straks løbende for at se, hvad der var på færde. „Har min mand bragt den elendige hebræer hertil for at vanære mig?” hulkede hun. „Han forsøgte at voldtage mig—men da jeg begyndte at skrige, flygtede han. Se, her er hans kjortel!”16Hun beholdt kjortlen, og da hendes mand om aftenen kom hjem,17fortalte hun ham samme historie. „Den hebræiske slave, som du har bragt hertil, trængte ind til mig og forsøgte at voldtage mig!18Men jeg skreg, og han flygtede så hurtigt, at han ikke nåede at få sin kjortel med.”
Josef kommer i fængsel
19Da Potifar hørte, hvad hun fortalte, blev han rasende.20Han arresterede Josef og kastede ham i det fængsel, hvor kongens fanger sad.21Men også der var Herren med Josef, så han hurtigt blev ven med fængselsinspektøren.22Inden længe fik han ansvaret for de andre fanger og for alle aktiviteterne i fængslet.23Fængselsinspektøren havde ikke længere noget at bekymre sig om, for Josef tog sig af det hele. Herren var med Josef, og alting lykkedes for ham.
1Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. (1.Mos 37,25; 1.Mos 37,28; 1.Mos 37,36)2The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (1.Mos 21,22; 1.Mos 26,24; 1.Mos 26,28; 1.Mos 28,15; 1.Mos 39,21; 1.Sam 16,18; 1.Sam 18,14; 1.Sam 18,28; Ap G 7,9)3His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. (2.Krøn 26,5; Salm 1,3)4So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. (1.Mos 19,19; 1.Mos 33,10; 1.Mos 39,8; 1.Mos 39,21)5From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. (1.Mos 30,27)6So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. (1.Mos 29,17; 1.Sam 16,12)7And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. (1.Mos 39,4)9He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (2.Sam 12,13; Salm 51,4)10And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. (Ord 1,10)11But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,12she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. (Ord 7,13; Ord 7,18)13And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house,14she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.15And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”16Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home,17and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.18But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”19As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled.20And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. (1.Mos 40,3; 1.Mos 40,5; 1.Mos 40,15; 1.Mos 41,14; Salm 105,18)21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (1.Mos 39,2; 2.Mos 3,21; 2.Mos 11,3; 2.Mos 12,36; Ap G 7,9)22And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. (1.Mos 40,4)23The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. (1.Mos 39,2)