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Genesis 39 Bible in Basic English

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About BBE
  • Scholarly edition
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew (not verified)
  • NT: Critical text (not verified)
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Simplified language
  • 1965
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar the Egyptian, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house, got him for a price from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he did well; and he was living in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, making everything he did go well. 4 And having a high opinion of Joseph as his servant, he made him the overseer of his house and gave him control over all he had. 5 And from the time when he made him overseer and gave him control of all his property, the blessing of the Lord was with the Egyptian, because of Joseph; the blessing of the Lord was on all he had, in the house and in the field. 6 And he gave Joseph control of all his property, keeping no account of anything, but only the food which was put before him. Now Joseph was very beautiful in form and face. 7 And after a time, his master's wife, looking on Joseph with desire, said to him, Be my lover. 8 But he would not, and said to her, You see that my master keeps no account of what I do in his house, and has put all his property in my control; 9 So that no one has more authority in this house than I have; he has kept nothing back from me but you, because you are his wife; how then may I do this great wrong, sinning against God? 10 And day after day she went on requesting Joseph to come to her and be her lover, but he would not give ear to her. 11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work; and not one of the men of the house was inside. 12 And pulling at his coat, she said, Come to my bed; but slipping out of his coat, he went running away. 13 And when she saw that he had got away, letting her keep his coat, 14 She sent for the men of her house and said to them, See, he has let a Hebrew come here and make sport of us; he came to my bed, and I gave a loud cry; 15 And hearing it he went running out without his coat. 16 And she kept his coat by her, till his master came back. 17 Then she gave him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you have taken into our house came in to make sport of me; 18 And when I gave a loud cry he went running out without his coat. 19 And hearing his wife's account of what his servant had done, he became very angry. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was there in the prison-house. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and was good to him, and made the keeper of the prison his friend. 22 And the keeper of the prison put all the prisoners under Joseph's control, and he was responsible for whatever was done there. 23 And the keeper of the prison gave no attention to anything which was under his care, because the Lord was with him; and the Lord made everything he did go well.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Joseph

    Ruler in Egypt

    Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50

  • Potiphar

    Pharaoh's captain of the guard

    An Egyptian officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard who bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, put him in charge of his household, and had him thrown into prison after his wife's…

    Cited in the guide: Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1; Genesis 39:4

Cross references (20)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Genesis 37:28; Psalm 105:17; Genesis 37:36; Genesis 37:25; Acts 7:9
  2. 2 1 Samuel 18:14; Psalm 91:15; Jeremiah 15:20; Genesis 26:28; Acts 7:9–10
  3. 3 Psalm 1:3; 2 Chronicles 26:5; 1 Samuel 18:14; Genesis 30:27; Matthew 5:16
  4. 4 Genesis 39:21–22; Genesis 19:19; Proverbs 27:18; Genesis 39:8; Genesis 24:2
  5. 5 Genesis 30:27; 2 Samuel 6:11–12; Acts 27:24; Psalm 72:17; Genesis 12:2
  6. 6 1 Samuel 16:12; Luke 19:17; Proverbs 31:11; Genesis 29:17; Genesis 39:23
  7. 7 Ezekiel 16:34; 2 Samuel 13:11; 2 Peter 2:14; Ezekiel 16:32; Ezekiel 23:12–16
  8. 8 Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 23:26–28; Proverbs 9:13–18; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 7:5
  9. 9 2 Samuel 12:13; Genesis 20:6; Genesis 42:18; 1 John 3:9; Luke 12:48
  10. 10 1 Peter 2:11; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Timothy 2:22; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:22
  11. 11 Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:12; Malachi 3:5; Proverbs 9:17; Jeremiah 23:24
  12. 12 2 Timothy 2:22; Proverbs 7:13–27; Ecclesiastes 7:26; 1 Peter 2:11; Proverbs 5:8
  13. 14 Matthew 26:59; Genesis 40:15; Psalm 120:3; Genesis 39:17; Proverbs 10:18
  14. 16 Psalm 37:32; Psalm 37:12; Titus 3:3; Jeremiah 9:3–5; Jeremiah 4:22
  15. 17 Exodus 23:1; Psalm 55:3; 1 Kings 18:17; Proverbs 12:19; 1 Kings 21:9–13
  16. 19 2 Thessalonians 2:11; Proverbs 18:17; Job 29:16; Proverbs 29:12; Acts 25:16
  17. 20 Genesis 40:15; 1 Peter 2:19; Genesis 41:9–14; 2 Timothy 2:9; Genesis 40:1–3
  18. 21 Isaiah 41:10; Exodus 3:21; 1 Peter 3:17; Acts 7:9–10; Isaiah 43:2
  19. 22 Genesis 40:3–4; Genesis 39:4; Genesis 39:9; 1 Samuel 2:30; Genesis 39:6–7
  20. 23 Isaiah 43:2; Psalm 1:3; Genesis 39:2–3; Daniel 6:22; Genesis 49:23–24

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 39:17 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily LXXXIV)

    "Thou broughtest in unto us here an Hebrew servant to mock us." It was not this man that mocked thee, O wretched and unhappy woman, but the devil that told thee that thou couldest break down the adamant.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)