FIRST READING Genesis 29:1-23
Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the
Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2The Lord was with
Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his
Egyptian master. 3His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that
the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4So Joseph found
favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house
and put him in charge of all that he had. 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. 6So he left all that he had in Joseph’s
charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food
that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.
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, “Look, with me
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here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has
put everything that he has in my hand. 9He is not greater in this house
than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself,
because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and
sin against God?” 10And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he
would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. 11One day,
however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one
else was in the house, 12she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with
me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled
outside, 14she called out to the members of her household and said to
them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He
came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15and
when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside
me, and fled outside.” 16Then she kept 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
insult me; 18but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his
garment beside me, and fled outside.” 19When his master heard the
words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant
treated me,” he became enraged. 20And Joseph’s master took him and put
him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined;
he remained there in prison. 21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed
him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
22The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were
in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
23The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care,
because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it
prosper.
Reader: Word of God. Word of Life.