Genesis 41:41-57 - Joseph In Charge Of Egypt

⁴¹ "Look!" Pharaoh confirmed to Joseph, "I've put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt!" ⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand, placed it on Joseph's hand, had him clothed in fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he provided him with a chariot as his second-in-command, outfitted with a group of people who shouted out in front of him, "Bow your knees!" And that's how Pharaoh set Joseph over the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also told Joseph, "I'm still Pharaoh, but without your permission nobody in all of the land of Egypt will so much as lift up their hands or take a step!" ⁴⁵ Pharaoh also changed Joseph's name to Zaphenath-paneah and gave Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, to him as his wife. And that's how Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was 30 years old when he began to serve Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by traveling throughout the land of Egypt, independent from Pharaoh's oversight.

⁴⁷ While bumper crops grew during the seven abundant years, ⁴⁸ Joseph collected the surplus food throughout the land of Egypt, storing food in cities; that is, he gathered the food from fields that surrounded every city and stored it there. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up so much grain like sand on the seashore in so much abundance! that he stopped keeping records because it was proving to be impossible to measure how much they were gathering.

⁵⁰ Before the years of famine arrived, Joseph fathered two sons with Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh because, he said, "God has made me forget all of my hard life and my father's house." ⁵² He named his second son Ephraim because, he said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my troubles."

⁵³ As soon as the seven years of abundance throughout the land of Egypt ended, ⁵⁴ the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. It was an international famine, but there was food everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. ⁵⁵ Eventually, the land of Egypt began to feel the effects of the famine, so the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. "Go see Joseph," Pharaoh announced to all the Egyptians, "and do whatever he tells you to do." ⁵⁶ Joseph opened all of the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, because the famine was beginning to be severe throughout the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ In addition, all of the surrounding nations came to Joseph to buy grain from Egypt, because the famine had become severe throughout the world.