Joseph was taken down to Egypt,
and Potiphar, an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh's officers, the captain of
the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites.
Now God was with Joseph, so that he prospered; and he was in the
house of his master, the Egyptian. When his master saw that God was
with him and made everything succeed that he undertook, he trusted
him and made him his own servant. He also made him overseer of his
household and placed all that he had in his care. From the time that
he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, God
blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake, and the blessing
of God was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.
Potiphar left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and he knew
nothing about his affairs except about the food which he ate. And
Joseph was handsome and attractive.
After these honors had come to Joseph, his master's wife tried to
tempt him to be unfaithful to his trust. But he refused, saying to
her, "See, my master knows nothing about what I do in the house, and
he has put all that he has in my charge. How then can I do this
great wrong and sin against God?" Day after day she tempted Joseph,
but he did not listen to her. One day, however, when he went into
the house to do his work and when none of the men of the household
were at home, she caught hold of his garment and again tried to
tempt him, but he left his garment in her hand and fled out of the
house.
She kept his garment by her until his master came home; then she
said to him, "The Hebrew slave whom you have brought to us came to
me to insult me; and when I cried aloud, he left his garment with me
and fled."
When Joseph's master heard what his wife said to him, he was very
angry; and he took Joseph and put him into the prison, in the place
where the king's prisoners were kept. So he was left there in
prison. But God was with Joseph and showed kindness to him and
helped him to win the friendship of the keeper of the prison, so
that he placed all the prisoners in Joseph's charge and made him
responsible for whatever they did there.
After these things the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker
offended their master the king of Egypt, and Pharaoh was so angry
with these two officers that he put them in the same prison where
Joseph was. And the captain of the guard appointed Joseph to wait on
them; and they stayed in prison for some time.
And the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were in the
prison, both had dreams the same night, each with a different
meaning. When Joseph came in to them in the morning, he saw plainly
that they were sad. So he asked Pharaoh's officers, "Why do you look
so sad to-day?" They answered, "We have had a dream, and there is no
one who can tell what it means." Then Joseph said to them, "Is not
God the one who knows what dreams mean? Tell them to me, if you
will."
Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him, "In
my dream I saw a vine before me, and on the vine were three
branches, and the buds put out blossoms, and its clusters brought
forth ripe grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the
grapes and squeezed the juice into his cup and gave the cup to
Pharaoh."
Then Joseph said to him, "This is what it means: the three branches
are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will let you out of prison
and restore you to your office, and you will give Pharaoh's cup into
his hand as you used to do when you were his butler. But when all
goes well with you, remember me, show kindness to me and speak for
me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison; for I was unjustly
stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done
nothing that they should put me in the dungeon."
When the chief baker saw that the meaning of the butler's dream was
good, he said to Joseph, "I also saw something in my dream: there
were three baskets of white bread on my head, and in the upper
basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds
were eating them out of the basket on my head." Joseph answered,
"This is what it means: the three baskets are three days; within
three days Pharaoh will take off your head and hang you on a tree,
and the birds shall eat your flesh."
Now on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast
for all his servants. Then he set free the chief butler and the
chief baker. He restored the chief butler to his office, so that he
again gave the cup to Pharaoh; but the chief baker he hanged, as
Joseph had told them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph,
but forgot him.