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Genesis 39

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1 And Joseph was brought·​·down to Egypt; and Potiphar, the chamberlain of Pharaoh, prince of the guards, an Egyptian man, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites*, who had brought· him ·down thither.

2 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a man who prospered; and he was in the house of his lord the Egyptian.

3 And his lord saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found grace in his eyes, and he ministered to him; and he appointed him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hand.

5 And it was, from the·​·time that he appointed him over his house, and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the house of the Egyptian because·​·of Joseph; and the blessing of Jehovah was in all that he had, in the house and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in the hand of Joseph; and he knew not anything that was with him, except the bread which he ate. And Joseph was beautiful in form, and beautiful in appearance.

7 And it was, after these words*, and the wife of his lord lifted·​·up her eyes to Joseph, and she said, Lie with me.

8 And he refused, and said to his lord’s wife, Behold, my lord knows not what is with me in the house, and all that he has he has given into my hand.

9 He is not greater in this house than I; and he has not kept·​·back from me anything but thee, because thou art his wife; and how shall I do this great evil, and sin to God?

10 And it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not to her, to lie beside her, to be with her.

11 And it was as this day, and he came·​·into the house to do his work*; and no man of the men of the house was there in the house.

12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me; and he forsook his garment in her hand, and fled, and went·​·forth outside.

13 And it was as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled outside,

14 that she called to the men of her house, and said to them, saying, See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us; he came to me to lie with me, and I called with a great voice;

15 and it was, when he heard that I lifted·​·high my voice and called, that he left his garment beside me, and fled, and went·​·forth outside.

16 And she placed his garment beside her, until his lord came to his house.

17 And she spoke to him according·​·to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought to us, came to me to mock me;

18 and it was, as I lifted·​·high my voice and called, that he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.

19 And it was, when his lord heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, According·​·to these words did thy servant to me; that his anger was·​·fierce.

20 And Joseph’s lord took him, and put him into the jail house, the place where the king’s bound ones were bound; and he was there in the jail house.

21 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and stretched·​·out mercy to him, and gave him grace in the eyes of the prince of the jail house.

22 And the prince of the jail house gave into Joseph’s hand all the bound ones that were in the jail house; and all that they did there, he was the doer.

23 Nor did the prince of the jail house see anything of all that was in his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made prosper.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 4992

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4992. 'Behold, my lord does not concern himself with anything in the house' means that natural good did not have even the desire to make anything its own. This is clear from the meaning of 'his lord' as natural good, dealt with in 4973, and from the meaning of 'not concerning himself with anything in the house' as having no desire to make anything its own. This meaning of these words cannot be seen except from the train of thought in the internal sense, for now the subject is a third state, in which the celestial of the spiritual was present in the natural. In this state natural good and truth which are spiritual are separated from natural good and truth which are not spiritual. Consequently 'not concerning himself with anything in the house' means that no desire existed to make anything its own. But being arcana, these matters cannot be seen clearly without the help of examples.

[2] Let the following serve to shed light on the matter. If mere lust leads a man to be joined to his wife, this is something natural which is unspiritual; but if conjugial love leads him to be joined to her this is something natural which is spiritual. And if after that - when he is her husband - it is mere lust that joins him to her, he considers himself to be a sinner who is no different from someone behaving in a sexually immoral way; which being so he has no further wish to make such lust his own. Or let another example be given. To do good to a friend, regardless of his character and simply because he is one's friend, is a natural action that is unspiritual; but to do good to a friend on account of the good residing with him, all the more so when one regards good itself as the friend to whom one is to do good, is a natural action that is spiritual. When this attitude exists with a person, he realizes that he himself is a sinner if he does good to a friend who is evil; for in that case he does evil to others through that friend. When this is his state he turns away from making his own that unspiritual natural good which had existed with him previously. The same is so with everything else.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.