AND the sons of Yishma'el who had bought Yoceph from the Midyaniym, who had bought him from his brethren, went to Mitsrayim with Yoceph, and they came upon the borders of Mitsrayim, and when they came near unto Mitsrayim, they met four men of the sons of Medan the son of Avraham, who had gone forth from the land of Mitsrayim on their journey.
And the Yishma'e'liym said unto them, Do you desire to purchase this slave from us? and they said, Deliver him over to us, and they delivered Yoceph over to them, and they beheld him, that he was a very comely youth and they purchased him for twenty sheqels.
And the Yishma`e'liym continued their journey to Mitsrayim and the Medaniym also returned that day to Mitsrayim, and the Medaniym said to each other, Behold we have heard that Potiyphar, an officer of Phar'oh, captain of the guard, seeks a good servant who shall stand before him to attend him, and to make him overseer over his house and all belonging to him.
Now therefore come let us sell him to him for what we may desire, if he be able to give unto us that which we shall require for him.
And these Medaniym went and came to the house of Potiyphar, and said unto him, We have heard that you seek a good servant to attend you, behold we have a servant that will please you, if you can give unto us that which we may desire, and we will sell him unto you.
And Potiyphar said, Bring him before me, and I will see him, and if he please me I will give unto you that which you may require for him.
And the Medaniym went and brought Yoceph and placed him before Potiyphar, and he saw him, and he pleased him exceedingly, and Potiyphar said unto them, Tell me what you require for this youth?
And they said, Four hundred pieces of silver we desire for him, and Potiyphar said, I will give it you if you bring me the record of his sale to you, and will tell me his history, for perhaps he may be stolen, for this youth is neither a slave, nor the son of a slave, but I observe in him the appearance of a goodly and handsome person.
And the Medaniym went and brought unto him the Yishma'e'liym who had sold him to them, and they told him, saying, He is a slave and we sold him to them.
And Potiyphar heard the words of the Yishma'e'liym in his giving the silver unto the Medaniym, and the Medaniym took the silver and went on their journey, and the Yishma'e'liym also returned home.
And Potiyphar took Yoceph and brought him to his house that he might serve him, and Yoceph found favor in the sight of Potiyphar, and he placed confidence in him, and made him overseer over his house, and all that belonged to him he delivered over into his hand.
And Yahuah was with Yoceph and he became a prosperous man, and Yahuah blessed the house of Potiyphar for the sake of Yoceph.
And Potiyphar left all that he had in the hand of Yoceph, and Yoceph was one that caused things to come in and go out, and everything was regulated by his wish in the house of Potiyphar.
And Yoceph was eighteen years old, a youth with beautiful eyes and of comely appearance, and like unto him was not in the whole land of Mitsrayim.
At that time while he was in his adoniy's house, going in and out of the house and attending his adoniy, Zelikah, his adoniy's woman, lifted up her eyes toward Yoceph and she looked at him, and behold he was a youth comely and well favored.
And she lusted after his beauty in her heart, and her soul was fixed upon Yoceph, and she enticed him day after day, and Zelikah persuaded Yoceph daily, but Yoceph did not lift up his eyes to behold his adoniy's woman.
And Zelikah said unto him, How goodly are your appearance and form, truly I have looked at all the slaves, and have not seen so beautiful a slave as you are; and Yoceph said unto her, Surely he who created me in my mother's womb created all mankind.
And she said unto him, How beautiful are your eyes, with which you have dazzled all the inhabitants of Mitsrayim, men and women; and he said unto her, How beautiful they are while we are alive, but should you behold them in She'ol, surely you would move away from them.
And she said unto him, How beautiful and pleasing are all your words; take now, I pray you, the harp which is in the house, and play with your hands and let us hear your words.
And he said unto her, How beautiful and pleasing are my words when I speak the praise of my Elohiym and his glory; and she said unto him, How very beautiful is the hair of your head, behold the golden comb which is in the house, take it I pray you, and curl the hair of your head.
And he said unto her, How long will you speak these words? cease to utter these words to me, and rise and attend to your domestic affairs.
And she said unto him, There is no one in my house, and there is nothing to attend to but to your words and to your wish; yet notwithstanding all this, she could not bring Yoceph unto her, neither did he place his eye upon her, but directed his eyes below to the ground.
And Zelikah desired Yoceph in her heart, that he should lie with her, and at the time that Yoceph was sitting in the house doing his work, Zelikah came and sat before him, and she enticed him daily with her discourse to lie with her, or even to look at her, but Yoceph would not hearken to her.
And she said unto him, If you will not do according to my words, I will chastise you with the punishment of death, and put an iron yoke upon you.
And Yoceph said unto her, Surely Elohiym who created man looses the fetters of prisoners, and it is he who will deliver me from your prison and from your judgment.
And when she could not prevail over him, to persuade him, and her soul being still fixed upon him, her desire threw her into a grievous sickness.
And all the women of Mitsrayim came to visit her, and they said unto her, Why are you in this declining state? you that lack nothing; surely your man is a great and esteemed prince in the sight of the king, should you lack anything of what your heart desires?
And Zelikah answered them, saying, This day it shall be made known to you, whence this disorder springs in which you see me, and she commanded her maidservants to prepare food for all the women, and she made a banquet for them, and all the women ate in the house of Zelikah.
And she gave them knives to peel the citrons to eat them, and she commanded that they should dress Yoceph in costly garments, and that he should appear before them, and Yoceph came before their eyes and all the women looked on Yoceph, and could not take their eyes from off him, and they all cut their hands with the knives that they had in their hands, and all the citrons that were in their hands were filled with blood.
And they knew not what they had done but they continued to look at the beauty of Yoceph, and did not turn their eyelids from him.
And Zelikah saw what they had done, and she said unto them, What is this work that you have done? behold I gave you citrons to eat and you have all cut your hands.
And all the women saw their hands, and behold they were full of blood, and their blood flowed down upon their garments, and they said unto her, this slave in your house has overcome us, and we could not turn our eyelids from him on account of his beauty.
And she said unto them, Surely this happened to you in the moment that you looked at him, and you could not contain yourselves from him; how then can I refrain when he is constantly in my house, and I see him day after day going in and out of my house? how then can I keep from declining or even from perishing on account of this?
And they said unto her, The words are true, for who can see this beautiful form in the house and refrain from him, and is he not your slave and attendant in your house, and why do you not tell him that which is in your heart, and suffer your soul to perish through this matter?
And she said unto them, I am daily endeavouring to persuade him, and he will not consent to my wishes, and I promised him everything that is good, and yet I could meet with no return from him; I am therefore in a declining state as you see.
And Zelikah became very ill on account of her desire toward Yoceph, and she was desperately lovesick on account of him, and all the people of the house of Zelikah and her man knew nothing of this matter, that Zelikah was ill on account of her love to Yoceph.
And all the people of her house asked her, saying, Why are you ill and declining, and lack nothing? and she said unto them, I know not this thing which is daily increasing upon me.
And all the women and her friends came daily to see her, and they spoke with her, and she said unto them, This can only be through the love of Yoceph; and they said unto her, Entice him and seize him secretly, perhaps he may hearken to you, and put off this death from you.
And Zelikah became worse from her love to Yoceph, and she continued to decline, till she had scarce strength to stand.
And on a certain day Yoceph was doing his adoniy's work in the house, and Zelikah came secretly and fell suddenly upon him, and Yoceph rose up against her, and he was more powerful than she, and he brought her down to the ground.
And Zelikah wept on account of the desire of her heart toward him, and she supplicated him with weeping, and her tears flowed down her cheeks, and she spoke unto him in a voice of supplication and in bitterness of soul, saying,
Have you ever heard, seen or known of so beautiful a woman as I am, or better than myself, who speak daily unto you, fall into a decline through love for you, confer all this honor upon you, and still you will not hearken to my voice?
And if it be through fear of your adoniy lest he punish you, as the king lives no harm shall come to you from your adoniy through this thing; now, therefore pray listen to me, and consent for the sake of the honor which I have conferred upon you, and put off this death from me, and why should I die for your sake? and she ceased to speak.
And Yoceph answered her, saying, Refrain from me, and leave this matter to my adoniy; behold my adoniy knows not what there is with me in the house, for all that belongs to him he has delivered into my hand, and how shall I do these things in my adoniy's house?
For he has also greatly honored me in his house, and he has also made me overseer over his house, and he has exalted me, and there is no one greater in this house than I am, and my adoniy has refrained nothing from me, excepting you who are his woman, how then can you speak these words unto me, and how can I do this great evil and sin to Elohiym and to your man?
Now therefore refrain from me, and speak no more such words as these, for I will not hearken to your words. But Zelikah would not hearken to Yoceph when he spoke these words unto her, but she daily enticed him to listen to her.
And it was after this that the brook of Mitsrayim was filled above all its sides, and all the inhabitants of Mitsrayim went forth, and also the king and princes went forth with timbrels and dances, for it was a great rejoicing in Mitsrayim, and a holiday at the time of the inundation of the sea Shiychor, and they went there to rejoice all the day.
And when the Mitsriym went out to the river to rejoice, as was their custom, all the people of the house of Potiyphar went with them, but Zelikah would not go with them, for she said, I am indisposed, and she remained alone in the house, and no other person was with her in the house.
And she rose up and ascended to her temple in the house, and dressed herself in princely garments, and she placed upon her head precious stones of onyx stones, inlaid with silver and gold, and she beautified her face and skin with all sorts of women's purifying liquids, and she perfumed the temple and the house with cassia and frankincense, and she spread myrrh and aloes, and she afterward sat in the entrance of the temple, in the passage of the house, through which Yoceph passed to do his work, and behold Yoceph came from the field, and entered the house to do his adoniy's work.
And he came to the place through which he had to pass, and he saw all the work of Zelikah, and he turned back.
And Zelikah saw Yoceph turning back from her, and she called out to him, saying What ails you Yoceph? come to your work, and behold I will make room for you until you shall have passed to your seat.
And Yoceph returned and came to the house, and passed from thence to the place of his seat, and he sat down to do his adoniy's work as usual and behold Zelikah came to him and stood before him in princely garments, and the scent from her clothes was spread to a distance.
And she hastened and caught hold of Yoceph and his garments, and she said unto him, As the king lives if you will not perform my request you shall die this day, and she hastened and stretched forth her other hand and drew a sword from beneath her garments, and she placed it upon Yoceph's neck, and she said, Rise and perform my request, and if not you die this day.
And Yoceph was afraid of her at her doing this thing, and he rose up to flee from her, and she seized the front of his garments, and in the terror of his flight the garment which Zelikah seized was torn, and Yoceph left the garment in the hand of Zelikah, and he fled and got out, for he was in fear.
And when Zelikah saw that Yoceph's garment was torn, and that he had left it in her hand, and had fled, she was afraid of her life, lest the report should spread concerning her, and she rose up and acted with cunning, and put off the garments in which she was dressed, and she put on her other garments.
And she took Yoceph's garment, and she laid it beside her, and she went and seated herself in the place where she had sat in her illness, before the people of her house had gone out to the river, and she called a young lad who was then in the house, and she ordered him to call the people of the house to her.
And when she saw them she said unto them with a loud voice and lamentation, See what an Ivriy your adoniy has brought to me in the house, for he came this day to lie with me.
For when you had gone out he came to the house, and seeing that there was no person in the house, he came unto me, and caught hold of me, with intent to lie with me.
And I seized his garments and tore them and called out against him with a loud voice, and when I had lifted up my voice he was afraid of his life and left his garment before me, and fled.
And the people of her house spoke nothing, but their wrath was very much kindled against Yoceph, and they went to his adoniy and told him the words of his woman.
And Potiyphar came home enraged, and his woman cried out to him, saying, What is this thing that you have done unto me in bringing an Ivriy servant into my house, for he came unto me this day to sport with me; thus did he do unto me this day.
And Potiyphar heard the words of his woman, and he ordered Yoceph to be punished with severe stripes, and they did so to him.
And while they were smiting him, Yoceph called out with a loud voice, and he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and he said, O Yahuah Elohiym, you know that I am innocent of all these things, and why shall I die this day through falsehood, by the hand of these uncircumcised wicked men, whom you know?
And while Potiyphar's men were beating Yoceph, he continued to cry out and weep, and there was a child there eleven months old, and Yahuah opened the mouth of the child, and he spoke these words before Potiyphar's men, who were smiting Yoceph, saying,
What do you want of this man, and why do you do this evil unto him? my mother speaks falsely and utters lies; thus was the transaction.
And the child told them accurately all that happened, and all the words of Zelikah to Yoceph day after day did he declare unto them.
And all the men heard the words of the child and they wondered greatly at the child's words, and the child ceased to speak and became still.
And Potiyphar was very much ashamed at the words of his son, and he commanded his men not to beat Yoceph anymore, and the men ceased beating Yoceph.
And Potiyphar took Yoceph and ordered him to be brought to justice before the priests, who were judges belonging to the king, in order to judge him concerning this affair.
And Potiyphar and Yoceph came before the priests who were the king's judges, and he said unto them, Decide I pray you, what judgment is due to a servant, for thus has he done.
And the priests said unto Yoceph, Why did you do this thing to your adoniy? and Yoceph answered them, saying, Not so my adoniym, thus was the matter; and Potiyphar said unto Yoceph, Surely I entrusted in your hands all that belonged to me, and I withheld nothing from you but my woman, and how could you do this evil?
And Yoceph answered saying, Not so my adoniy, as Yahuah lives, and as your soul lives, my adoniy, the word which you did hear from your woman is untrue, for thus was the affair this day.
A year has elapsed to me since I have been in your house; have you seen any iniquity in me, or anything which might cause you to demand my life?
And the priests said unto Potiyphar, Send, we pray you, and let them bring before us Yoceph's torn garment, and let us see the tear in it, and if it shall be that the tear is in front of the garment, then his face must have been opposite to her and she must have caught hold of him, to come to her, and with deceit did your woman do all that she has spoken.
And they brought Yoceph's garment before the priests who were judges, and they saw and behold the tear was in front of Yoceph, and all the judging priests knew that she had pressed him, and they said, The judgment of death is not due to this slave for he has done nothing, but his judgment is, that he be placed in the prison house on account of the report, which through him has gone forth against your woman.
And Potiyphar heard their words, and he placed him in the prison house, the place where the king's prisoners are confined, and Yoceph was in the house of confinement twelve years.
And notwithstanding this, his adoniy's woman did not turn from him, and she did not cease from speaking to him day after day to hearken to her, and at the end of three months Zelikah continued going to Yoceph to the house of confinement day by day, and she enticed him to hearken to her, and Zelikah said unto Yoceph, How long will you remain in this house? but hearken now to my voice, and I will bring you out of this house.
And Yoceph answered her, saying, It is better for me to remain in this house than to hearken to your words, to sin against Elohiym; and she said unto him, If you will not perform my wish, I will pluck out your eyes, add fetters to your feet, and will deliver you into the hands of them whom you did not know before.
And Yoceph answered her and said, Behold the Elohiym of the whole earth is able to deliver me from all that you can do unto me, for he opens the eyes of the blind, and looses those that are bound, and preserves all strangers who are unacquainted with the land.
And when Zelikah was unable to persuade Yoceph to hearken to her, she left off going to entice him; and Yoceph was still confined in the house of confinement. And Ya`aqov the father of Yoceph, and all his brethren who were in the land of Kena`an still mourned and wept in those days on account of Yoceph, for Ya`aqov refused to be comforted for his son Yoceph, and Ya`aqov cried aloud, and wept and mourned all those days.