Weekly Readings

My son,

pay attention to my wisdom.

Open your ears to my understanding

2 so that you may act with foresight

and speak with insight.

 

3 The lips of an adulterous woman drip with honey.

Her kiss is smoother than oil,

4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,

as sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet descend to death.

Her steps lead straight to hell.

6 She doesn’t even think about the path of life.

Her steps wander, and she doesn’t realize it.

 

7 But now, sons,

listen to me,

and do not turn away from what I say to you.

8 Stay far away from her.

Do not even go near her door.

Joseph had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s Egyptian officials and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his Egyptian master.

6 So he left all that he owned in Joseph’s care. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the food he ate.

Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph, so she said, “Come to bed with me.”

8 But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. 9 No one in this house is greater than I. He’s kept nothing back from me except you, because you’re his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 Although she kept asking Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. 12 She grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he ran outside and left his clothes in her hand.

13 When she realized that he had gone but had left his clothes behind, 14 she called her household servants and said to them, “Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. 15 As soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”

16 She kept Joseph’s clothes with her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried to fool around with me. 18 But when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”

19 When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, especially when she said, “This is what your slave did to me,” he became very angry.  20 So Joseph’s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Never commit adultery.’ 28 But I can guarantee that whoever looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery in his heart.

29 “So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it go into hell.